Kathleen H. Armstrong
Title: Associate Research Professor & Director, Early Intervention Positive Behavioral Support Project
Specialty: Interventions for young children with challenging behaviors and their families; children with medical and developmental disabilities; assessment of infants, toddlers and children.
Contact Information:
Dept. of Child and Family studies. USF Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute Division of Training, Research, Evaluation and Demonstration (TREAD)
Phone: (813) 974-8530
E-mail this USF Collaborative Partner
Details:
Topics of Expertise:
Interventions for young children with challenging behaviors and their families; children with medical and developmental disabilities; assessment of infants, toddlers and children.
Educational and professional background:
Armstrong received her undergraduate, master’s and specialist degrees from the University of Florida. She received her Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of South Florida. She has spent several years working in school and clinical settings, and now splits her time between the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute (FMHI) and USF Pediatrics ’ Early Intervention Program.
What Collaborative grants did you work on?
“I have been Principal Investigator on two USF Collaborative Grants, the most current being a grant with Aaron Smith and Shelley Coleman (Children ’s Cancer Center) on community support for children with Sickle Cell Disease and their families. Previously, I worked with Sue Street on a grant that examined the Match Team; a community collaborative that matched special needs children with adoptive parents, and with Pat Grosz and Stan Graven on a grant that helped to move intervention services to support young children into the community.”
What is one of your newer grants?
“I am directing the EIPBS (Early Intervention Positive Behavior Support) project which is intended to help young children with challenging behavior and their families who are involved in Part C of IDEA. Positive Behavior Support is an evidenced-based intervention that has demonstrated its effectiveness with supporting children and adults with developmental disabilities, but has never been applied as part of a community intervention for very young children, ages 0-3. At the present time, there are very few supports available for young children challenged by social and emotional difficulties.”
News you can use:
“We know that behavioral challenges develop early and that they endure over time and worsen, if not dealt with early on. Further, we know that children with behavioral problems are more likely to also experience academic failure once they enter school, are at risk for dropping out, for delinquency, and poor social relationships. These problems are notable early on in development, generally by 18 months of age. We have the technology to support these young children and their families, but those resources are not readily available in the community.”
What do you think is the biggest issue is in your field now?
“Much of today ’s focus seems to be around No Child Left Behind and reading achievement. Without more support for early childhood programs and for families, children will be left behind, before they even start school, because they will not have the social and emotional readiness to learn. Early brain research is clear in that the first five years of life are when most brain development occurs, and especially in language. The spiral of behavioral and academic problems begins much earlier than kindergarten or third grade, when large numbers of children will be retained because they do not have the necessary skills for promotion. In addition, there are simply not enough well trained childcare professionals and teachers to support the needs of the children.”
What have you learned from your research that you wish every professional and student knew?
“The early years are very important, and if we miss those opportunities, we place children in situations in which they can never catch up. The gift that we can give to future generations is to support children and families early on, because prevention is powerful and much more effective than waiting for the problems that are likely to occur. Not only does prevention improve the quality of life for those individuals, but improves quality of life for all of us as well as saving money spent for more intrusive interventions such as long term mental health care or prison. "
