Abstract
I recently presented at our State Early Childhood Conference supported by the state chapter of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The conference participants were primarily early care and education professionals focused on providing high-quality early learning experience for young children. Along with my copresenter, Phoebe Rinkel, our presentation focused on inclusion of children with disabilities in everyday learning experiences in child care and across a variety of other early childhood settings.
As we prepared for this presentation, we had a number of decisions regarding how to approach the topic of inclusion of children with disabilities in typical learning environments. We believed that we needed to balance basic content and foundational information with strategies that were supported by resources that are accessible and provide substantive information and aligned with the DEC Recommended Practices.
Our approach to the presentation, much like many others, was to stress that inclusion must occur at multiple levels. Not only is there physical integration of children in a common learning environment, but inclusion must also occur in the context of social and instructional activities. We addressed beliefs and attitudes, provided legal and research foundations to support inclusion, discussed how programs can effectively support inclusion, and then provided resources that would support early childhood professionals as they returned to their program. So what did we want to accomplish? We wanted to
discuss the big ideas of the joint policy statement on inclusion by the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Education (2015),
highlight the joint statement on inclusion by DEC and NAEYC,
identify strategies promoting/strengthening inclusive practices in local communities and programs,
increase knowledge of easy to access and low- or no-cost resources that support inclusion activities in the work setting, and
identify two to three specific activities participants could engage when they return to their work setting.
As members of DEC, we were cognizant of the many resources developed by DEC or individuals who are DEC members. DEC’s website offers some excellent materials that support inclusion and inclusive practices including Young Exceptional Children’s popular Resources Within column, DEC Monograph Series, and the DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series.
For our profession to realize the goal of children with disabilities being included in typical early childhood social and educational settings, each of us, a members of DEC, must continue to talk about and support our early childhood partners in accepting and believing they can provide appropriate services for children with disabilities.