Chapter01 allen7e

Chapter 1
An Inclusive Approach to Early
Education
©2012 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

Inclusion Defined
• Inclusion means that children with special
needs attend school with normally
developing peers.
• Inclusion is belonging, being valued, and
having choices.
• Inclusion is accepting children and
families and encouraging their
participation.

Inclusion in Perspective
• Forget and hide—children with disabilities
were placed in institutions, and families
were told to forget about them.
• Screen and segregate—people with
disabilities now had civil rights.

Inclusion in Perspective (continued)
• Identify and help—children were now
identified earlier, so treatment could begin
earlier.
• Include and support—Americans with
Disabilities Act is passed and inclusion
begins.

Rationale for Inclusive Early
Education
• Ethical issue—segregated classes for
children with disabilities often do not have
the materials, funding, and support of
regular classrooms, making their
education inadequate.

Rationale for Inclusive Early Education
(continued)
• Socialization issue—through inclusion
equal social status is implied:
– Children of varying abilities grow up together,
and acceptance is mainstream.
– Re-entry into the social norms is not
necessary, because they are already a part of
the norm.

(continued)
• Developmental issues
– Children with and without disabilities are
provided lessons that enhance their level of
development.
– Children learn from each other.
– Children model appropriate interactions with
others.

(continued)
• Cost issue—cost is actually reduced,
because existing program structures are
already in place.
– Segregating typical and atypical children
actually costs more and is a duplication of
services.

Supporting Inclusion: Implications for
Teachers
• Structuring child-child interactions
– The teacher needs to focus her activities on
encouraging play between children with and
without activities.
– After a period of imitating each other’s
behaviors, children will begin to play together
on their own.

Teachers (continued)
• Planning classroom activities
– Activity-based approach has the teacher
develop lessons based on typical preschool
activities and incorporate IFSP and IEP goals
at the same time.

Teachers (continued)
• Professional collaboration
– Interdisciplinary teams are developed and
must work together to meet the needs of the
individual child.
– Professionals share their strengths to improve
the child’s educational outcomes.

Benefits of Inclusion
• Benefits for children with disabilities
– Gains are made in
• social competence
• social play
• developmental domains
• higher levels of play

Benefits of Inclusion (continued)
• Benefits for typically developing children
– Developmental outcomes
• These do not suffer; in fact, typically developing
children continue to grow in skill development and
benefit from the lower staff/child ratio.

• Peer tutoring
– Children benefit from explaining what they
know to someone else.
– Explaining their knowledge to a peer makes it
more special because they are helping a
friend.

• Developing sensitivity
– Understanding differences
– Becoming aware of our strengths and
weaknesses
– Not being afraid to ask for help

• Benefits for families
– Parents’ attitudes become more positive over
time as they see
• their children become more accepting of
differences
• their children become more comfortable around all
people

• Benefits for society
– As the children grow into adults, they are
• more accepting of individual differences
• more mature in their responses around others
• able to respect others for what they can do

Concerns and Challenges of
Inclusion
• Will special needs be served?
– Parents and professionals often feel that they
cannot meet the needs of the child.
– Are specialized services going to be
available?
– If so much time is spent on children with
disabilities, will the typical children feel
shortchanged?

Concerns and Challenges of Inclusion
(continued)
• Concerns about inappropriate behaviors
– Normally developing children will begin to
imitate inappropriate behaviors of children
with disabilities.
• This is unfounded and false.
• Children will not imitate unusual or stereotypical
behaviors.

Concerns and Challenges of Inclusion
(continued)
• Will special needs children be teased?
– Not if given good role models who answer
questions honestly and support friendships

Final Thoughts
• Inclusion is the law.
• There are more benefits than downfalls.
• Society will be more accepting of all
individuals.
• Cost should not be a deterring factor.
• Try it; you might like it.

Chapter01 allen7e

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