1. Carolyne Jones, M.Psy.(Clin.) Assoc. Prof. Susana Gavidia-Payne, Ph.D. Psychology School of Health Sciences RMIT University Bundoora VIC Early Childhood Intervention Australia Conference Perth WA August 9-11 2012

2.  Background & Rationale  Research Questions  Measure  Participants  Findings  Conclusions & Implications

3.  Inclusion extends beyond early childhood educational settings to the community  Beliefs of service providers impact on young children’s experience of inclusion  Key characteristics related to positive beliefs ◦ Professional ◦ Personal

4. Early Childhood Professionals  Previous experience working with young children with disabilities  Years of experience working in kindergarten/childcare  Disability-specific training  Level of education  Age  Personal experience with people with disabilities

5. Recreation Providers  Currently working with people with disabilities  Years of experience working with people with disabilities  Certifications/disability-specific training  Confidence in implementing inclusive practices

6.  Mixed results in literature  No research of beliefs found about inclusion of young children with disabilities in the community (outside educational/recreation settings)  Two important stakeholders in community inclusion of young children w disabilities  Important knowledge base to inform training & education Why?

7.  Do ECP and recreation providers report similar beliefs, sense of competence & workplace support for implementing inclusive practices?  Which personal and professional characteristics are significantly related to ECP and recreation providers’ beliefs?  Which characteristics best predict positive beliefs among ECP and recreation providers, as one group?

8.  No measures specific to community inclusion  Created 22-item pilot measure ◦ Bruns & Mogharreban, 2007; Rafferty & Griffin, 2005  Four subscales (plus Demographics section) ◦ General Beliefs about Community Inclusion (5 items) ◦ Beliefs about Inclusion in Community Settings (10 items) ◦ Workplace Support for Inclusive Practices (2 items) ◦ Confidence about Implementing Inclusive Practices (4 items)

9.  80 questionnaires returned;45% response rate ◦ 37 kindergarten/childcare staff (ECP) ◦ 43 recreation providers/GymbaROO staff CharacteristicsECP GroupRecreation Group Worked with young children with disabilities previously 92%81% Worked with young children with disabilities in past year 73%70% Disability-specific training86%79% Personal experience with people with disabilities 42%46%

10. Community Inclusion Survey Subscale Early Childhood Professionals Recreation Providers General Beliefs about Community Inclusion (Scores range 5- 25) 7.73 (3.64) “Strongly Agree/Agree” 9.47 (3.96) * “Agree” Beliefs about Inclusion in Community Settings (Scores range 10 - 50) 11.26 (1.93) “Always ” 11.97 (2.26) “Always” Workplace Support for Inclusive Practices (Scores range 2 - 10) 3.97 (2.10) “Agree” 3.65 (1.51) “Agree” Confidence about Implementing Inclusive Practices (Scores range 4 – 20) 8.77 (3.22) “Agree” 8.44 (2.83) “Agree” Community Inclusion Survey Total (Scores range 21 - 105) 34.91 (7.97) “Strongly Agree/Agree” 36.61 (6.71) “Strongly Agree/Agree”

11. Professional CharacteristicEarly Childhood Professionals Recreation Providers Previous experience working with young children with disabilities Not significant Confidence subscale (p <.05) Years experience working with young children with disabilities Confidence subscale & total score (p <.001) Confidence subscale (p <.05) Worked with young children with disabilities in past year Confidence subscale (p<.001) Confidence subscale (p <.001) & total score (p <.05) Number of disability training topicsSupport (p <.001) & confidence (p <.05) subscales Not significant

12.  Recreation Providers group o Level of education General Beliefs about Community Inclusion subscale (p <.05) Beliefs about Inclusion in Community Settings subscale (p <.05) o Extended family member with a disability Beliefs about Inclusion in Community Settings (p <.05)  Interestingly, the correlation indicated less support

13.  Predictors of positive beliefs sample-wide  Number of years previously working with young children with disabilities o Significant contribution to regression model  Having worked with young children with disabilities in the past year  Both characteristics explain 19% of variance

14.  Both groups were similarly positive o Except ECP reported more positive general beliefs about community inclusion than recreation providers  Actively working with young children with disabilities was a key factor for both groups  ECP - training in disability-specific topics  Recreation providers - level of education

15.  Design and implementation of inclusion education and training programs in the community  Preliminary results to encourage future research into beliefs of key stakeholders (hopefully)  Extend to other sample groups o Parents, managers, directors, council representatives  Endless possibilities!