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While most early learning settings have at least one
child with a disability, teachers often have little or no
training in educating and caring for children with special needs.
What is inclusion? Where do we go for help and support?
What if we don't have a background in special education? What if we get it wrong?
An inclusive program is
one that meets the needs of all of the children, but
to me inclusive doesn't necessarily mean everybody's getting the same exact things.
So, we try really hard to have all of our students
participating in what's going on. We want them to be
part of every single routine that's occurring in our classroom,
but how one student is participating in circle may look different than how another student is
participating in circle. To me that's inclusive, they're all
part of circle in their own way.
For that sense, most people
would probably think that inclusion is just making sure that
everyone is included in some way. I think that the challenge is
trying to figure out how to include them.
As the regular educator, that's where the hard
part and the challenge lies, trying to meet the needs
of every kid, and include kid, but trying to
figure that out. That can be a difficult situation.
Inclusion is a part of all aspects of education
and society and yet many feel unaware. Start the
inclusion conversation. Explore the meaning and key components of
inclusion and inclusion best practices.
(teacher passes around a stuffed caterpillar. Boy gives it a kiss.)
So beginning the path to inclusion for
smaller providers, family providers, church and faith based, I think sometimes they have first
reflect on: is it something that they can do and be
successful at, or is it going to cause them a problem? I say that very delicately, but
often times there are children with different needs who could
pose a safety risk to themselves, which could then impact the program.
So, I think before they embark on that, they need to make sure that they've got
a few of their ducks in a row for their
sake as a program and for that child's sake. So, I'm thinking for instance, if say
they have a child with down syndrome who was know to elope. That is common;
we've had plenty of children through here before with Down syndrome who... it's funny, it's not
that they're trying to escape for any reason, it's really kind of funny to just try to
run out the door. Is that provider... maybe it's a home provider and they're
there by themselves, are they going to be able to take care of the other two children they have and that child?
So first and foremost, deciding if it is something they can embark on, if they
can, and if they have the resources, which we've heard often times from faith based that it's hard
because they probably need to hire another aide and if there's not
available funds for that, that might be a barrier as well.
So, those things needs to be at the ground level. Then, it would
be talking to the family, finding out what this child currently has in place,
what they need, and calling on someone who has that expertise.
The best thing that I did for myself and for my students was to say, I don't know.
I just had to say, I don't know sometimes, and find out from others
what I needed to know and to ask for their support, and ask for it again. I think that's
the thing too, is sometimes it's easier to have somebody come in once and say,
ok, do all these things and it could be overwhelming. So, you might walk away felling overwhelmed, you might
walk away feeling empowered and then you might go to implement it and not feel as
empowered. So, you need to do it more than once,
and trainings... really get some of those skills so that they have
a place to start. I think from there, once they're comfortable, they can build.
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(teacher naming the colors)
Participation is essential to inclusion.
Meaning there is a range of instructional approaches promoting engagement
in play and learning. There is a sense of belonging
for every child with or without disabilities.
For us, inclusion means participation. It doesn't mean that you're just on the roster
and that you're just here. If we have a child here that's on the
autism spectrum for instance and would rather only play with the bouncy balls at
the sensory table if that's what's in it, it's great that he's here, but that's not his only objective
is to just stay focused on that and to not participate. We're going to have to
push his buttons. We're going to have to encourage him and work with him to figure out
how we can help him participate fully in the classroom.
We want to definitely work with all of our children from where they're at too. We don't want to
ever view them from a deficit prospective. We want to view them from an
ability prospective. So, wherever they are, we need to figure what's next.
I think that's the difference between inclusion and another "typical program",
is that we're focused on where they're at, where we can help them get to,
how we're going to get them there, and how, most importantly, they get to participate with their peers.
All children are unique in their development.
Some children have distinctive developmental abilities and
disabilities that require a closer look at the practices,
tools, and mind sets incorporated within programs.
So, as a professional coming in and maybe a potential hire,
that we might be considering for a role in our program, if they didn't have any
familiarity with inclusion, but say they had an early ed background and so they knew
early education. Something, I think that it's easy to like in it too,
that people understand is while it is very different, it is a little
bit like having a mixed age group because there at different levels. When you have
twos, threes, and fours together, they're at different levels, so the same behavior system
doesn't work with all of them. The same activity is going to need a modification in order for them
to participate. You can't expect the same from two year olds as we do four year olds.
Any of our children with disabilities, it's the same way. Just because they may have lower
mobility or they may get over stimulated by the environment doesn't mean that
they can't participate. It means that it's now our job to figure out how
to help them participate and be successful. Inclusion
involves putting into place a quality framework of supports
such as program philosophies and policies, professional development,
specialized services and therapies, and opportunities
for communication and collaboration among families and professionals.
Access is a complicated question. I've actually talked
to a group of directors before about the process, because what I've heard
in the community often times is that the providers aren't sure how to
access or who can initiate the access. In some
instances it has to be the parent that says, I'll make the call to get the support for
my child and in some instances the provider can do that. So, what's
unfortunate is that if a provider isn't able to work with a parent
for whatever reason: the parent is noncooperative or doesn't have the time, or whatever the situation
may be, and the parent doesn't get that access to wrap around
mental health services or additional therapies so this child can be successful
and be successfully included at a typical program, they're often times asked to leave.
It's not fair to blame the provider, because if they can't get the support they
need, if they don't have that access, then they can't help this child.
At the same time, we need to advocate for these children and we need to help the
parents be advocates for the children, those that aren't already, so that they
know how to access services, how to access equipment, and how to get the
support that they need. Sometimes that may mean physical pieces of equipment
other times that may mean, we need therapy, we need a counselor, who can you direct us
to. We can't forget about that parent piece. I think, whether
we're talking inclusion, or typical setting, altogether obviously that parent piece is huge
because the child can do really, really well in our setting or in another
setting, or maybe they transition to kindergarten, but if they don't have
that parent piece, or that family piece, not just parent, because the
family dynamics are changing all the time, there's really not anybody that's going
to be successful, not fully, not to the extent that they could be.
Educators can create environments that bring out the
strengths of every child. There are multiple ways to promote learning
and development, and different approaches so everyone can participate.
We use a lot of assistive technology in our classroom and that can mean a lot of different
things. So, first children, it's the icons just because it has the word technology
in it doesn't necessarily mean it has to be computerized or electronic. So,
the icons that we use for our children to participate in the how are you
routine, or to answer a question related in our book at circle, those icons are assistive
technology... that big Mac button that we're using, the iPad, we didn't see it
stay, but some of our children have more complex communication devices
that they're using to communicate. The walkers and
orthotic shoes, those are all assistive technologies
for our students. So we have a ton. We rely on the therapists,
the occupational therapist, physical therapist, speech therapist to help guide us
in finding the best pieces of assistive technology for our students and then once we've
chosen what they need, then all of the aides and I get trained
in how to use those with our children, so that we can carry over
day in and day out with that. It takes some planning upfront. I think circle time...
to have everybody's icons and buttons and what everybody
needed took some planning for us in the first couple of weeks of school as we figured out where
everybody was, but now it's just a matter of grabbing those things every day. So, it's a really
easy way to make sure that everybody is doing what they need to do to be a part of that
day in and day out. Now, it doesn't take any
more work. The same thing with our teacher table, we plan it, we come up with how
everybody's might be a little different, but then we just sit down and do it. So I think for educators
who think inclusion takes a lot of work, it might take a little extra work upfront,
but then once you've got those supports in place, it's very easy to make that happen.
What if you don't have a background in special education?
I have my background
in early childhood and elementary and so I don't
have that special needs background, but it has been
just such a joy working here and just interacting
with the kids and seeing each child grow. Of course each child
is continually growing and interacting in their own
way. So, it's just great to be able to be a part
of that. Yes, it's a challenge. It's hard because I do not have that
special needs background, but that's where it is great that I have an
amazing co-teacher that is willing to help me and to
support me and continue to teach me. I've also taken a lot of
trainings so that I was able to do that and learn
different things from the trainings. I know
that people don't have a co-teacher that are able to interact
and have that background as well, but then they can rely on therapists
or other people... their director or whoever
to help them and support them.
As early educators, as teachers in general, I think we value
the children. We want to get to know them, but I think you have to dig a little deeper sometimes
with children who learn differently, who process differently, who have different abilities, because
what we may think is them just being stubborn, may actually
be that they can't retrieve that information or they aren't able to take that next step
unless you've helped them either learn it or given them the
modification to be successful. So, really it's
a big challenge on staff. It's a really big challenge on staff,
but I think when they are passionate about it and they see how much
it benefits the children and the families, they're really motivated to keep doing it.
It means a lot of change, a lot of quick thinking on your feet sometimes in order for participation to be
successful.
I think it's really important for
any child, but particularly a child with special needs to not be kept
in a bubble. They're a child. They should be out playing soccer and getting dirty
in the mud and doing all those things. So, our philosophy in our classroom is
it doesn't matter. You're still going to do those things. We're still all going to go on
field trips together. We're still all going to get down on the floor and wiggle like caterpillars. We're all going
to do it, we just might need to put different things in place so that you can
play soccer, or get down in the mud, or whatever it is, but
I just think we try to hold all of our students
to the same expectations. You're going to be a kid. You're going to play.
You're going to be part of the day. I think that's really important for our children. Some of our children
who start here at Easter Seals, their
parents are a little hesitant. They're not sure about sending them to school. They're not sure
about letting them go play on the playground and roll in the mud and do those things.
We try to help those parents feel comfortable in knowing that they're a kid and they need
to do these things. We'll keep them safe and we'll find ways for them to do that, but
they're a kid, they should be part of all those experiences.
I think, that's hopefully
where we're coming from now and that more people are starting to realize
that this is a child, just like any other child,
they just have some extra issues that they have to work through.
As more people continue to see that and we educate people
with that then we will be able to better help these
children and to be able to be in a collaborative
classroom where the kids that are typically developing
are interacting with them. We are seeing it through their
eyes, because they don't see them with a disability. They see them as their friend.
So, when you see it through a child's eyes, you get a better
perspective, because they're still naive to the world and
they have that great personality, so then they see that,
so then that helps adults to see it as well.
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