Informing early intervention through an occupational science description of infant-toddler interactions with home space

• Published in: The American journal of occupational therapy Vol. 63; no. 3; pp. 273 - 287
• Main Authors: Pierce, Doris, Munier, Veronique, Myers, Christine Teeters
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Occupational Therapy Association 01.05.2009; American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc
• Subjects: Attitudes; Babies; Child Development; Children & youth; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Early intervention; Early Intervention (Education); Early intervention programmes; Families & family life; Female; Grounded theory; Health aspects; Home environment; Humans; Infant; Infant Behavior - physiology; Infant Behavior - psychology; Infants; Locomotion - physiology; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Motor ability; Occupational therapists; Occupational Therapy; Occupations; Physiological aspects; Play and Playthings - psychology; Practice; Psychological aspects; Services; Skill development; Skills; Social Environment; Spatial Behavior - physiology; Substantive theory; Therapists; Thinking Skills; Toddlers; Young Children; United States
• ISSN: 0272-9490; 1943-7676
• DOI: 10.5014/ajot.63.3.273

The study provides a substantive description of infant and toddler play with everyday objects and independent negotiation of home space. A grounded theory approach was used to study 18 typically developing children longitudinally from ages 1 to 18 months. Data from 133 home visits included videotaped self-directed play sessions with usual objects, maternal interviews, and observation records. Infant Space Theory is a substantive theory of infant-toddler interactions with the spaces and objects of the home. This contextualized view of the infant-toddler describes progressions in gaze and visual play, in mapping and ranging home space, in stationary object play, and in the little-described development of mobile object play. Therapists providing early intervention services within the home environment may benefit from the theory in their creation and modeling of naturalistic interventions with infants and families.