An Inclusionary Model That Can Work For Difficult Kid

Including a kid with disabilities in an early childhood care setting is a major confront because kids with social and behavioral problems are "...among the most difficult to include". Sometimes, parents discuss their anxieties about their kid's development or behavior with the staff. More often, however, it is the kid care staff that notifies parents of a possible problem. The teacher training addresses issues involved in including kids with disabilities in a setting for normally developing kids. A Challenge to the Early Childhood CommunityIndividuals with Disabilities Education Act creates additional responsibilities and concerns for early childhood programs. As the number of preschoolers with disabilities incorporated in kid care increases, there is a growing hope that the kid care community will recognize kids with disabilities, tell parents about their anxieties, and help them access kids’ legal rights. Facilitating InclusionOver the last ten years, there has been a theatrical increase in the number of preschoolers with disabilities who attend comprehensive preschools and kid care settings. Leading professional organizations in early childhood and early childhood special education are supporting inclusion and parent involvement as "best practice". Inclusion is the process of including kids with disabilities in education classes for normally developing kids. Inclusion serves as one way to provide kids with disabilities a least preventive environment. These services may be provided "in a variety of natural settings, including family homes, preschools, kid care facilities, and other community settings in which kids without disabilities would be found". Attitudes about inclusion, access to specialists and mutual planning, and curriculum are vital factors influencing the success of inclusion. In addition, research has indicated that staffing, class size; number of kids with disabilities, and the nature and quality of a kid's disability are also important factors in successful programs. An assessment conducted by early childhood education found that two thirds of the teachers surveyed supported the idea of inclusion. However, only 25-33 percent said they had plenty time, training, and resources to execute inclusive practices effectively. Screening"Screening is the process of collecting data to decide whether more intensive assessment is necessary". Screenings are brief. A kid with a supposed disability should be observed carefully by staff that focuses on the way the kid performs or behaves in the classroom and how he or she interrelates with adults, other kids, and materials. If a teacher expects a disability, it becomes the school's responsibility to tell the kid's parents and advise an assessment. Evaluationan evaluation is recommended when the results of a screening specify that more information is required to decide a kid's need for special education and/or related services. Federal regulations entitle kids with suspected disabilities to a free, multidisciplinary evaluation. This evaluation will decide whether a kid has a disability and the nature and amount of special education and/or related services needed. In addition, the instruments used in an evaluation must be consistent and applicable and administered in the kid's native language or other mode of communication. Testing Concernsearly childhood care and education educators need to be aware of the problems connected with testing preschoolers. Young kids are often unhelpful with new adults in unfamiliar settings; they are not always provoked to try and may not have the required attention span to sit through the testing procedures, or have the language skills to respond. Nursery teacher training course clearly concern against placing a kid in artificial environments for assessment. While federal and state regulations may require the use of standardized tests, they should always be combined with information about a kid's behavior in natural environments, as reported by preschool teacher trainingcaregivers such as parents and teachers. Parental InvolvementParental involvement includes a broad range of activities which range from volunteering in the classroom to formal or informal contacts with the teacher to being accessible for the kid at home. Montessori training believes that strategies which include parent involvement are more effective in improving kids’ performance. The vital phase for laying the groundwork for on-going dialogue with parents and sharing in the corrective work is at the beginning. However, it is also the most difficult and sensitive phase for staff and parents to negotiate.