Translation to Practice

Translation to Practice

Principles of mediated learning are introduced as a framework to support family capacity building. Guided reflection on parent-child interaction and use of parents’ expertise to facilitate learning and build capacity to support child learning were utilized.

Schertz, H.H., & Horn, K. (2017). Family capacity-building: Mediating parent learning through guided video reflection. In C. Trivette and B. Keilty (Eds.), DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series No. 3 Family: Knowing families, tailoring practices, building capacity. (pp. 125-134). Washington, DC: Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children.


Chapter focuses on relationship-based learning in naturally occurring interactions and builds upon prior learning and personal interests as a means of promoting learner’s self-efficacy, motivation, and active engagement in the social learning process.

Schertz, H.H. & Horn, K. (2018). Facilitating toddlers’ social communication from within the parent-child relationship: Application of family-centered early intervention and mediated learning principles. In: M. Siller & L. Morgan (Eds). Handbook of parent-implemented interventions: Supporting families of young children with autism (pp. 141-151). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.


Key preverbal social competencies and strategies for promoting active toddler engagement in the social-learning process are addressed. Examples demonstrate how mediated learning promotes foundational social competencies in toddlers with autism.

Schertz, H. H. & Horn, K. (2018). Supporting early toddler social engagement through parent-mediated interaction. In DEC Recommended Practice Monograph Series No. 5 Interactions: Responsive interactions to support child development and learning (pp. 39-50). Washington, DC: Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children