A multi-year home-based program to promote development of young Palestinian children who exhibit developmental delays

The effectiveness of the Portage Program, a home-based prescriptive-teaching secondary-prevention program based on behavioral principles and designed to promote development in infant and children who display general cognitive and related disabilities, was examined over a five year period. The progress of 396 children with handicapping conditions who reside in the Gaza Strip was followed. Children in the three lowest levels of ability made little change in their rates of development while those in the two highest levels displayed decrements in their rates of development. Additional empirical studies on the Portage Program are warranted to determine the types of children and the environmental conditions associated with its effects.