What’s so terrible about being two? The developmental needs of two-year-olds and implications for service provision In Northern Ireland
type: CreativeWork
description: Early intervention has been a recurrent theme in addressing educational underachievement for children who are at risk of experiencing multiple adversities and undesirable outcomes (Dawson, Dunn and Morgan, 2010). However, there has been some dispute regarding the definition of early intervention - as to whether it should be focused on early with regards to chronological age and/or early in relation to the onset of adversities (Dawson et al., 2010). Often service design draws upon the latter, using the Hardiker (1991) model as a framework to measure degrees of adversity. However, whilst there is certainly a need to intervene on experiences of adversity, the first three years of life involve a period of rapid neurological growth that significantly influences later outcomes and so intervening early by the definition of chronological age is also vital (Perry, 2014). More specifically, Mathers, Eisenstadt, Sylva, Soukakou and Ericka-Stevens (2014) report the period of development that occurs between 24 and 36 months is marked by significant advances in language, cognition and social collaboration, all of which are imperative to achieving positive outcomes throughout life. Despite this, McGuiness, Eakin and Connolly (2012) report a significant gap in policy and service provision for two-year-olds in Northern Ireland and Mathers et al., (2014) call for an increase in evidence relating to how services can best meet the unique needs of two-year-olds. Therefore, this study aimed to add to the critical discussions and evidence base on early intervention as a means of improving outcomes for children by considering the developmental needs of two-year-olds and the implications for service provision in Northern Ireland. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was employed to gain a breadth and depth of knowledge from a range of stakeholders including programme co-ordinators, practitioners and parents. The design of the research was holistic, in terms of combining quantitative a…
abstract: Early intervention has been a recurrent theme in addressing educational underachievement for children who are at risk of experiencing multiple adversities and undesirable outcomes (Dawson, Dunn and Morgan, 2010). However, there has been some dispute regarding the definition of early intervention - as to whether it should be focused on early with regards to chronological age and/or early in relation to the onset of adversities (Dawson et al., 2010). Often service design draws upon the latter, using the Hardiker (1991) model as a framework to measure degrees of adversity. However, whilst there is certainly a need to intervene on experiences of adversity, the first three years of life involve a period of rapid neurological growth that significantly influences later outcomes and so intervening early by the definition of chronological age is also vital (Perry, 2014). More specifically, Mathers, Eisenstadt, Sylva, Soukakou and Ericka-Stevens (2014) report the period of development that occurs between 24 and 36 months is marked by significant advances in language, cognition and social collaboration, all of which are imperative to achieving positive outcomes throughout life. Despite this, McGuiness, Eakin and Connolly (2012) report a significant gap in policy and service provision for two-year-olds in Northern Ireland and Mathers et al., (2014) call for an increase in evidence relating to how services can best meet the unique needs of two-year-olds. Therefore, this study aimed to add to the critical discussions and evidence base on early intervention as a means of improving outcomes for children by considering the developmental needs of two-year-olds and the implications for service provision in Northern Ireland. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was employed to gain a breadth and depth of knowledge from a range of stakeholders including programme co-ordinators, practitioners and parents. The design of the research was holistic, in terms of combining quantitative a…
author: McCartney, Suzanne
language: eng
keywords: Early years, early childhood, early intervention, child, toddlers, two year olds
date published: 2021-7
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:55:38Z
provider: Queen's University Belfast
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Queen's University Belfast