ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly describes some of the central phenomena of early development described by T. B. Brazelton and colleagues. Parents, educators, and others engaged in children's learning and development can observe and elicit these phenomena even in subsequent development, when they can help children to build on this foundation in the service of the acquisition of new skills and capacities. Brazelton carefully observed children with autism spectrum disorders; he noticed neurobehavioral similarities among them that just did not seem explainable by maternal behavior. His study of individual differences anticipated subsequent research on epigenetic programming demonstrating that in utero and early experience can alter the expression of genes. The "empty vessel" theory of education, which supposes that children's brains simply need to be filled with parent- and teacher-provided information, has long been challenged by child-centered, active learning, and social constructivist models, among others. Parental effectiveness builds on parental sense of competence, and this can be enhanced through respectful, strengths-based parent– teacher relationships.
