Keywords

early intervention, Latino families, special needs, young children

 

Authors

  1. Denney, Maria K. PhD
  2. Itkonen, Tiina PhD
  3. Okamoto, Yukari PhD

Abstract

There is growing interest in the experiences of ethnically and linguistically diverse families of young children with special needs and the myriad of early intervention systems of care they encounter in the United States. The research on Latino families and their young children with special health and developmental needs highlights critical issues of language, culture, and family adaptation to a myriad of service delivery systems. This emerging area of research reveals that ethnically and linguistically diverse families may view difficulties as not inherent in their young children with special needs; rather the locus of hassles and stressors may be mediated to some extent by unresponsive service delivery systems. To this regard, the objective of this literature review is to synthesize salient themes from the extant research about the experiences of Latino families and their young children with early intervention systems of care in order to illuminate guiding implications for policy, research, and practice.