Infant/maternal interactive social/emotional learning where the infant hasa disability or is at risk for a disability

This article examines the learning processes of the infant and the fundamen tal role of the caregiver in the development of social-emotional skills. Re search in the area of infant brain development is considered, together with earlier work in the child development area, in a synthesis of "old" and "n ew" thinking. The work of Perry and Greenspan is reviewed in the context of the compromised infant, and this provides a framework for the therapeutic interventions of the Champion Centre, Christchurch, New Zealand. The "lived experience" model takes into account the dual coding of affect and behavio r as the architecture of social and emotional development. It also consider s the interactive and reciprocal role of the caregiver in this process. Rec ognition and attention to these parameters is considered crucial for childr en with a disability.