Professional roles and responsibilities in early childhood special education (ECSE) are rapidly expanding to encompass increasingly complex functions related to work with young children with disabilities and their families in a variety of community contexts. Traditional frameworks for conceptualizing the roles of professionals in ECSE and/or early intervention have focused almost exclusively on the direct service component of the early childhood special educator's job. Furthermore, existing conceptualizations have not addressed how professionals can balance multiple roles to avoid role conflict and role overload. Implications of expanding roles for personnel preparation and practice are discussed.
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