Positive Beginnings

Positive Beginnings: Supporting Young Children with Challenging Behavior. Positive Beginnings was a project of national significance funded by the US. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs to provide faculty and professional development personnel with material about the use of Positive Behavior Support (PBS) with young children with challenging behaviors and their families within the real world settings of preschool and home visiting programs. Drs. Amy Wetherby, Mary Francis Hanline, and Juliann Woods at FSU and Dr. Lise Fox at University of South Florida were Project Co-Directors. Dr. Lindee Morgan assisted in the development of the video clips and training materials. Training modules were designed to build the capacity of educators, interventionists, and therapists in meeting the needs of young children with challenging behavior. The modules provide a comprehensive curriculum in Positive Behavior Support. Over 4,000 CDs were disseminated with the grant funding, clearly showing the demand for these training materials. Experiences of the team developing Positive Beginnings as well as the training materials were foundational to launching us into web-based professional development projects.