Both naturalistic communication and parent-implemented interventions are evidence-based practices for young children with disabilities, but demonstrations of effective methods for teaching parents to implement naturalistic interventions successfully with their children are still warranted. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a training and coaching program on parent implementation of naturalistic teaching strategies and on concomitant child communication skills using a telepractice service-delivery model (i.e., Internet-Based Parent-Implemented Communication Strategies [i-PiCS]). We found that parents learned to implement the targeted naturalistic teaching strategies with fidelity when, and only when, they were provided with training and coaching over the Internet. The parents' implementation of these strategies also corresponded with positive changes in their children's communication skills. The limitations and implications of this investigation are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a pilot program (i.e., Internet-Based Parent-Implemented Communication Strategies [i-PiCS] program) that provides long-distance training and coaching via the Internet to parents of young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The i-PiCS program is designed to teach parents how to use evidence-based teaching strategies to improve the social communication skills of their children with ASD. We describe components of a parent-training program that capitalizes on evidence-based strategies and highlights the potential for delivering this program via the Internet. Potential barriers, benefits, and implications for practice and research are discussed.

This efficacy study investigated whether a class-wide disability awareness curriculum would result in increased close friendships for 26 kindergarteners with disabilities enrolled in six inclusive classrooms. Findings suggest that participation in a disability awareness curriculum alone does not lead to increased friendships. Evidence suggests that having a close friendship may partially mediate the relationship between children’s social competence and acceptance. These findings align with research that emphasizes the importance of individualizing class-wide programs based on children’s support needs and facilitating children’s friendship formation in kindergarten classrooms to promote peer acceptance. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The purpose of this article is to describe what has been learned over the past 35+ years of research on the friendships of young children with disabilities. An extensive literature review was conducted to critically examine the purposes that guided the friendship studies, the methods used to measure friendships, and the major findings of these studies. A total of eight studies were identified. The results of this review revealed that across all studies, researchers relied on the identification of children's existing friendships to address their main research questions. However, researchers did not always operationally define the construct of friendship they were measuring, and the methods they used to identify friendships varied widely across all studies. Gaps in the literature and implications for future research are discussed.

Ms. Glass is working with her kindergarten student, Angela, on expressive communication. Angela has significant communication delays and has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Although she is making progress, Ms. Glass is worried that her gains will not generalize to different contexts. Ms. Glass thinks Angela and some of her peers will benefit from working on expressive communication at home in everyday routines. However, teaching Angela's parents to use communication teaching strategies is difficult, as Ms. Glass and Angela's parents have overlapping work schedules. Ms. Glass wonders if there is another way to provide Angela's parents with targeted support so they can, in turn, support Angela's communication at home.