The
delay in diagnosis also prevents pharmacological interventions from being initiated, and non-pharmacological activities from being started, such as engaging in diabetes
education, discontinuing tobacco use, modifying dietary behaviors and increasing physical activity
for improving cardiovascular health and stimulating weight loss.
During the prenatal and infant periods, families have been identified on the basis of socioeconomic risk (parental
education, income, age8, 11) and / or other family (e.g. maternal depression) or child (e.g. prematurity and low birth weight12) risks; whereas with preschoolers a greater emphasis has been placed on the presence of child disruptive behaviour,
delays in language / cognitive impairment and / or more pervasive developmental
delays.6 With an increased emphasis on families from lower socioeconomic strata, who typically face multiple types of adversity (e.g. low parental educational attainment and work skills, poor housing, low social support, dangerous neighbourhoods), many parenting programs have incorporated components that provide support
for parents» self - care (e.g. depression, birth - control planning), marital functioning and / or economic self - sufficiency (e.g.
improving educational, occupational and housing resources).8, 13,14 This trend to broaden the scope of «parenting» programs mirrors recent findings on early predictors of low - income children's social and emotional skills.
The major goal of TRACE is to identify and promote the use of evidence - based practices and models
for improving child find, referral, early identification, and eligibility determination
for infants, toddlers, and young children with developmental
delays or disabilities who are eligible
for early intervention or preschool special
education.