On Exhibit: A Tour of Supports for Successful Inclusion

On Exhibit: A Tour of Supports for Successful

InclusionDebbie Lickey and Deana Buck

Partnership for People with Disabilities\VCU

Why Inclusion?: Questions to ask Ourselves

# 1Are children with disabilities being served adequately without

inclusion?

# 2How important is Social Emotional Development in the life of a

young child?

#3How can we take advantage of existing resources to support

quality early childhood experiences for all children?

Why Inclusion?:What does Research tell us?The quality of early childhood

programs that enroll young children with disabilities is as good as, or slightly better, than the quality of programs that do not enroll children with disabilities.

Children with Disabilities:» Have more advanced and more frequent social

interactions» Have opportunities for more advanced play

skills» Have improved communication skills and other

developmental skills

Children without Disabilities

» Show improved self concept and more sensitive

» Learn tolerance of those who are different and increase empathy

» May become more accepting of their own limitations

AND…» All children benefit from the strategies

implemented to facilitate learning:˃ Visual Strategies˃ An understanding of Developmentally Appropriate

Practice˃ Adaptations to Materials and the Environment˃ Materials and instructional modifications.

˃ Learning Effective strategies for promoting Social Emotional development and decreasing behavioral challenges

What We Know…..

•Early childhood professionals are currently working with young children who are developmentally delayed, who may not yet have been identified.

What does the research tell us about Barriers to Inclusion

There is a need for increased:» Support from related services» Knowledge of effective strategies» Understanding of developmentally

appropriate, individualized teaching methods

» NAEYC and DEC have created a joint statement defining inclusion, with the defining features including:

Access, Participation, and Supports» Access – means providing a wide range of activities and

environments for every child by removing physical barriers and offering multiple ways to promote learning and development.

» Participation – means using a range of instructional approaches to promote engagement in play and learning activities, and a sense of belonging for every child.

» Supports – refer to broader aspects of the system such as professional development, incentives for inclusion, and opportunities for communication and collaboration among families and professionals to assure high quality inclusion

Avenues to Success: Getting Support, Gaining Knowledge

http://nichcy.org/

CSEFEL (Center on Social and Emotional Foundations of Early Learning)

http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/index.html

Resources for Inclusive Strategies:CONNECT http://community.fpg.unc.edu/connect

CELL (Center for Early Literacy Learning)http://www.earlyliteracylearning.org/index.php

CARA’s Kit: From NAEYC

Additional Resources

http://www.autisminternetmodules.org

SpecialQuest Birth to Five

CONNECT http://community.fpg.unc.edu/

Visual strategies

» Visual schedule» Visual timer» Visual sequencing of activities

Sensory Supports:

Communication Supports

Social/Emotional and Behavioral Supports

» Social Stories» First-Then boards» Providing strategies to both

teachers and children to support classroom management

» Teachers learn strategies for children who have behavioral challenges

CARA’s Kit!» CARA’s Kit— stands for Creating

Adaptations for Routines and Activities—helps teachers of young children who are enrolled in early care and education programs use adaptations to increase children’s engagement and participation in classroom activities and routines.

Adaptations Help All Children

» Adaptations allow teachers to do the same things that they would do with all children—facilitate their participation in activities and routines. Adaptations can be used to:

» Make situations better for a particular child.

» Improve situations for the entire group.

About Adaptations» Making adaptations does not involve teaching children

to perform particular skills. Rather, adaptations promote children’s successful participation in everyday routines and activities through the use of:

» Environmental accommodations.

» Adjustments to activities and routines.

» Materials and instructional modifications.

CARA’s Kit Supports the Preschool Curriculum

» CARA’s Kit helps teachers understand how to adapt and modify the curriculum. Adaptations increase children’s participation in curriculum activities.

» Participation in daily activities and routines affects children's physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development, and thereby helps children meet a variety of pre-kindergarten standards.

Adaptation Continuum

The Goal: Use the least intrusive adaptation. If an adaptation is not having the result you want, try the next least intrusive adaptation.

CARA’s Kit: A Starting Point for Adaptations

» There are literally thousands of possible adaptations and resources. For example, CARA’s mini-posters contain possible adaptations for different areas in the classroom.

CSEFEL (Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning)

http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/index.html

The Pyramid Model

The Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children.

The CSEFEL website has developed extensive, user-friendly training materials, videos, and print resources which are available to help early care, health and education providers implement this model.

CSEFEL provides videos of actual classrooms for training, power point presentations on building strategies for social-emotional development and a multitude of tools to use with children at differing levels of social emotional health and development

Positive Feedback/ Building Relationships

Supporting Emotional Literacy

Tools for teaching problem solving

Tucker Turtle Takes Time to Tuck and Think

A scripted story to assist with teaching the “Turtle Technique”

By Rochelle Lentini, University of South FloridaUpdated 2007

Created using pictures from Microsoft Clipart® and Webster-Stratton, C. (1991). The teachers and children videotape series: Dina dinosaur school. Seattle, WA: The Incredible Years.

Pre- Made Social Stories in Power Point Formats

CELL (Center for Early Literacy Learning)http://www.earlyliteracylearning.org/index.php

Additional Resources

http://www.autisminternetmodules.org

Autism Spectrum Disorders in Infant & Toddlers: What Every Early Interventionist Needs to Know

http://www.eipd.vcu.edu/onlinetrainings.html

VA Training and Technical Center: Available to work with classroom teachers to support inclusive programs and for trainings

http://www.ttaconline.org/

Questions?

Debbie Lickey (lickeydc@vcu.edu)Deana Buck (dmbuck@vcu.edu)

Carole Whitener (cwhitener@tcc.edu)

Come and join the ‘Inclusion Revolution’