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Winning the support of child care center directors is a critical first step in the successful inclusion of children with disabilities in child care settings. Most child care administrators are familiar with the laws which require that children with disabilities to be included in typical settings. What they need, however, is a commitment to the concept of inclusion, and a plan for bringing their staffs on board. Stages of Commitment When first approached, child care directors may show an interest in inclusion because they see it as a way of getting training for their providers by early interventionists, rather than as something they want to institute at their centers. They assume correctly that training on topics related to children with disabilities will upgrade the skills of their providers with other children. At this stage they have minimal commitment to include children with disabilities. As directors become more knowledgeable about the child care needs of children with disabilities, they begin to recognize the benefits offered by the participation of these children in center-based programs. Providers are more intentional in their approach to care when they use familiar routines to implement IFSP objectives. Techniques learned from early intervention, such as the need to help children anticipate changes, are integrated into the providers’ care for all children. Best practices are used more frequently. If approached, directors will enroll a child with disabilities. At stage three, child care directors are convinced that child care helps children with disabilities, and that their inclusion can improve program quality for all children. Experience has taught them that caring for children with disabilities encourages providers to be at their best, to use best practices. Directors are ready to actively recruit participation of children with disabilities and their families. Bringing Staff on Board When directors are convinced of the benefits of inclusive child care, they need to instill in their providers the desire to apply their caring and teaching skills to children with disabilities. Providers need to feel confident that they have something to offer these children and that the director will support their efforts. Staff need to think about children with disabilities as children first. Directors help them understand that disabilities are only as handicapping as society chooses to make them. Providers come to understand that in large measure caring for children with disabilities is removing the barriers that keep them from childhood activities. The need all children have to identify with peers and learn from one another is stressed. Providers need to know how they can use their existing skills to care for children with disabilities. Scaffolding training opportunities so that providers can build on their prior knowledge of care giving procedures for typical children is a successful format. For example, all children benefit from consistent routines and clear transition procedures. Children with disabilities are simply more often reliant on these practices to maintain attention and participation. The type of day to day support offered to a provider must be specific to the concerns raised by the functioning of the child in question. Creating a community-based in-take team is one way to assure proper training about specific disabilities occurs on an as needed basis. Members of this team can train providers in necessary protocols as children are enrolled. Directors who recognize their role of establishing such terms and providing encouragement and community resources to their staff find that including children with disabilities in their centers is one of the best decisions they ever made. Child Care and Early Intervention: Bridging the Distance Resistance to including young children with disabilities in typical child care settings can come form both the child care and early intervention communities. Both worry about safety, liability, lack of training, and parent or staff reactions. Even with passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the emphasis on natural environments in IDEA Part C, fewer than 10% of parents who seek care for their children with disabilities are able to find it. A Structure, which formally links early intervention resources to the needs of child care programs to build the capacity of this natural setting, is required. A federally funded Outreach project, Successful Integration of Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities provides an innovative solution: identifying state or local funded professionals in the early intervention community who take on the role of "EI Bridges". Utilizing Project training and support, ‘bridges’ link child care directors to EI and other community resources. Each Director/EI Bridge team is charged with making the changes needed in either system to create one system of care and communication. Formal ‘bridging activities’ from the Project provide team members opportunities to get acquainted and to explore the role changes required to make integrated child care a reality. These activities assist participants in networking child care directors into the local resource system for children with disabilities. Transdisciplinary teams commit to implementing IFSP objectives in natural settings. With support, directors revise child care policies, procedures and enrollment systems. A community Advisory Committee supports each center’s efforts to care for children with disabilities. Formally bridging the EI and child care communities gives both entities support to make the changes necessary for the successful inclusion of children with disabilities. Listening to the Providers Training materials from the Federally funded project Successful Integration of Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities record five child care providers’ experience in caring for children with disabilities. They share their insight and offer suggestions to their colleagues: See additional Early Childhood Training Materials available for purchase through AGH Associates, Inc. Provider Training Module 3: "Environments that say ‘Yes’" "Basically," said Carol, "our rooms should make kids feel like we do on a day off at the mall. ‘Wow, look at that…I have to try this…These are wonderful…" "If you have kids with disabilities, you need to be sure they are getting that thrill – wanting to try things to see how they work, to handle them." Provider Training Module 4: "Physical – Children need to explore" "When I think of positioning Willie, I think where’s the action and how to get him there." "If the other kids are exploring water, Willie wants to do that too. How else can he learn how things feel wet? How’s he going to listen to other children’s language, and feel like he’s part of the group?" "There is only one way – he’s got to be up at that water table. And he’s got to be there when the rest of them are, and he’s got to get his hands in it." "I may put him in a prone stander, or hold him in my lap, or whatever else gives him the physical support he needs. But if I don’t get Willie up there, I’m letting him down." Downloaded at schoolhousedoor.com |
