Inclusion and Early Childhood Education

Population of Young Children with Special Needs Birth to age 8 Children with developmental delays Biologically at-risk Person first language Needs similar to all children –Food, shelter, love, opportunities to play, learn and grow

Classification of student with special needs IDEA-13 catagories under law Developmental delay-young children with special needs

What Early Childhood Educators Should Know about students with Special Needs Look at the individual child Disorders do not occur in isolation Diagnosis may suggest a broad and diverse amount of interventions Knowledge about various conditions is crucial Focus on the “whole”child

Inclusion Students attend home school with their age and grade peers Services and education occurs in natural environments Proportion of students labeled for special services is relatively uniform for all of the schools within a particular school district Ration reflects the proportion of people with disabilities in society at large Students receive in- school educational services in general classroom with appropriate in-class support to maximum extent possible (NASBE)

Benefits of Preschool Inclusion