Federal officials say that young children with disabilities should be receiving educational services in inclusive settings in greater numbers. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/TNS)
The U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services are encouraging greater inclusion of children with disabilities in preschools, Disability Scoop reports. The Department of Education has reported that while a majority of preschoolers with disabilities did attend general early childhood programs since 2013, more than half received special education in contained environments.
States are being urged to create task forces to promote early childhood inclusion, establish new policies, and allocate funds to facilitate these programs and track goals for expanding inclusive learning opportunities.
In a draft policy statement on the inclusion of children with disabilities by the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, the lag in progress on giving children with disabilities and their families access to inclusive early childhood programs is troubling for several reasons, such as:
- “Being meaningfully included as a member of society is the first step to equal opportunity, one of America’s most cherished ideals, and is every person’s right—a right supported by our laws.
- “A robust body of literature indicates that meaningful inclusion is beneficial to children with and without disabilities across a variety of developmental domains.
- “Preliminary research shows that operating inclusive early childhood programs is not more expensive than operating separate early childhood programs for children with disabilities.
- “Meaningful inclusion in high-quality early childhood programs can support children with disabilities in reaching their full potential resulting in societal benefits more broadly” (U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, 2015).
What are your thoughts on this urge for change in the early childhood setting?
This leads to several considerations to take into account when toilet training boys. I agree with Weitzen that some of these issues arise from the simple fact that women are predominantly toilet training boys. However, it’s also possible that such issues arise from the fact that many boys are trained in early intervention or preschool years without consideration of the implications of those training techniques several years down the line, and without further intervention or training later in life. Either way, it’s important to recognize that training of life skills should be completed in such a way as to develop effective skills that are similar to those of the child’s same-age peers. To that end, here are two considerations:
In the study, there were three pairs of siblings. The ages of the children with autism ranged from 5 years old to 8 years old. The ages of the siblings ranged from 8 years old to 13 years old. The researchers trained each sibling of a child with autism how to teach basic skills, such as discriminating between different coins, identifying common objects, and spelling short words. As part of this training, the researchers showed videos of one-on-one sessions in which these skills were taught, utilizing techniques such as reinforcement, shaping, and chaining. What the researchers did next was the part that really stood out to me: they discussed with the siblings how to use these techniques in other environments. Finally, the researchers observed the sibling working with their brother/sister with autism and provided coaching on the techniques.
Ida Keiper is dually certified as Teacher of the Handicapped and Elementary School Education. She earned a B.A. from Georgian Court University. Ms. Keiper, a highly qualified teacher educated children with disabilities for thirty years, wrote district curriculum for special education, coordinator of special education department in New Jersey public schools. Her compassion and professionalism earned her “Teacher of the Year.” Over the years Ms. Keiper has fostered close relationships with her students and parents. Ms. Keiper lives in New Jersey with her husband and two sons.
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