A practical, activity-based approach to early childhood special education built on a foundation of theory and research.   This comprehensive text on early childhood special education emphasizes a developmental focus over a disability focus. The authors believe that children are more alike than different in their developmental processes and avoid the negative impact of labeling children with disability categorical names. The authors have produced a book that offers educators a practical and effective guide to finding learning opportunities within daily curriculum activities and routine. The current edition maintains the focus on inclusive, family-centered, real-world approaches that are also theoretically based. The text also provides ample detail related to specific intervention strategies that enhance teachers' ability to work with young children with special needs and their families.  Readable and practical, the illustrations of techniques and strategies throughout make this text a valuable resource long after students leave their formal education.

Contents

 

Chapter 1 Educating Young Children with Special Needs: The Challenge

 

Viewing the Child with Special Needs as a Child First

Inclusion of Young Children with Special Needs in Community-Based Settings

Philosophy of This Text

Early Childhood Special Education: An Evolving Field

            Pioneering Influences

            Casa dei Bambini

            Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

            Recognition of the Role of Early Experiences

            Project Head Start: A Breakthrough

            Doubts

            Impact of Early Intervention

            Early Intervention for Children with Disabilities

            Relationship-Focused Models of Early Intervention

Changing Policies: The Enabling Impact of Public Pressure and Legislation

            Development of Professional Groups

            The Power of Private Citizens

            The First Chance Program

            Public Law 94-142: The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975

            Public Law 99-457: The Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986

            Public Law 101-476: The Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1990

Public Law 102-119: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1991

Public Law 105-17: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997

Public Law 108-446: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004

Public Law 101-336: The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

Evolving Trends in Early Childhood Special Education

            Family-Centered Services

            Community-Based Inclusive Services

            Interdisciplinary Collaboration

            Culturally Responsive Practices

            Coordinated, Comprehensive Services

            Evidence-Based Practices

            Routines-Based or Embedded Interventions

            Standards-Based Curriculum

            Child Outcomes

            Recognition and Response

Building on Recommended Practices

Collaboration Between Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Special Education Professionals

            A Cautionary Note

Service Delivery

            Child-Focused Approaches

            Caregiver-Focused Approaches

            Services for Infants and Toddlers

            Services for Preschoolers

Meeting Young Children’s Needs in Inclusive Settings

            Unique Challenges Involved in Supporting Early Childhood Inclusion

            Redefining the Role of the Early Childhood Special Educator

            The Case for Specific Training Related to Inclusion Support

Summary

Discussion Topics and Activities

 

Chapter 2: In Partnership with Families

 

A Personal Perspective on Raising a Child with Developmental Challenges

Emotional Supports for Families with Children Who Have Special Needs

            Basic Needs

            Failure to Consider Basic Needs

            The Need for Emotional Support

Parental Reactions; Dealing with Grief and Other Feeling States

            Shock, Disbelief, and Denial

            Anger and Resentment

            Bargaining

            Depression and Discouragement

            Adaptation and Adjustment

            A Father’s Perspective

            Transitions

The Family as a System

Extended Family and Sibling Needs and Reactions

            Siblings

Parents as Team Members

            Family Outcomes

Options for Family Involvement

            A Continuum

            What Fathers Say About Their Involvement

            Home-Based Intervention Programs

            Additional Important Considerations When Making Home Visits

            Supporting and Partnering with Parents in Early Intervention Programs

            Conferences with Parents

            Involving Parents in Group Meetings

Working with Culturally Diverse Families

            Cultural Models and Child-Rearing Practices

            Language Differences

            Parents’ Expectations of the Preschool Curricula

Working with Special Family Populations

            Parents with Developmental Disabilities

            Teen Parents

            Foster Caregivers

Understanding the Impact of Poverty

            Homelessness

Summary

 

Chapter 3: Developing Individualized Intervention Plans and Programs and Monitoring Progress

 

The Individualized Family Service Plan Process for Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families

            The IFSP Process

            Participants in Initial and Annual IFSP Meetings

            Identifying Family Concerns, Priorities, and Resources

            The IFSP Document

            Developing Outcome Statements

Service Coordination

            Who Can Become Service Coordinators?

            Models of Service Coordination

Promoting Essential Interagency Collaboration

Developing Individualized Education Programs for Preschoolers

            The Interdisciplinary IEP Team Meeting Process

Considering Darren

            Background Information

Required Contents of the IEP

            Purposes and Limitations of the IEP

            Considerations Beyond the IEP

Writing Program Objectives (Benchmarks)

            Basics of Writing Behavioral Objectives

            Guidelines for Choosing and Writing Behavioral Objectives

Becoming a Skilled Observer

            Observing How Children Perform a Task

            Considering the Special Challenges When English Is the Child’s Second Language

            Realizing Environmental Influences on Child Performance

            Recognizing the Interrelationship of Skills

            Guidelines for Successful Observation

            The Portfolio and Its Use with Young Children

            Types of Observation Samples

Recording Children’s Progress

Linking Assessment to Curriculum

Facilitating Transitions

            Steps in Transition to Center-Based or Public School Services

            The Role of the Early Childhood Special Educator in Facilitating Transitions

Summary

 

Chapter 4: Designing Instructional Programs

 

Curriculum

            Definition

            Choosing a Curriculum

            Considering Children with Special Needs

            Philosophy of This Text

General Instructional Strategies

            Motivation

            Applied Behavior Analysis

            Social Mediation of Experience

            Adult–Child Communication Strategies

            Routines

Play as an Important Teaching Context

Arranging the Physical Environment to Maximize Learning

            The Physical Environment

            Grouping Children

            Sound and Lighting

            Visual Materials

            Special Considerations for Infants and Toddlers

Creating a Positive Social-Emotional Environment

            Anticipate Children’s Questions

            Encourage Children with Specific Positive Feedback

            Provide Opportunities for Self-Efficacy and Decision Making

Designing the Teaching-Learning Environment: Universal Design for Learning

Embedding Teaching and Learning Opportunities

            Scheduled Plans Promote Desired Consistency in Routines

Providing a Variety of Activities to Accomplish Any One Outcome or Objective

            Terminal Objective

            Individual (En Route) Objectives

            The Activity: Bathing a Doll

            Evaluating the Effectiveness of Each Activity

            Using an Activity to Achieve More Than One Objective

Summary

 

Chapter 5: Considerations for Teaching Children with Specific Disabilities

 

Getting Started: Gathering Information About the Child

      Learn from the Family

      Collaborate Among Team Members

      Plan and Conduct Observations

Suggestions for Teaching Children with Specific Disabilities

      Health Impairments

      Hearing Loss

      Difficulties in Learning

      Physical Disabilities

      Visual Impairments

      Autism Spectrum Disorders

      Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Teaching Children with Severe and Multiple Disabilities

      Provide Opportunities for Children to Make Choices

      Ecological Inventory and Discrepancy Analysis

      Analyze a Child’s Lack of Response

      Principle of Partial Participation

      Prompting and Fading Procedures

      Errorless Learning

      Communication Strategies

Tips for Promoting Children’s Participation in the Classroom

Summary

 

Chapter 6: Promoting Emotional and Social Development

 

Becoming Emotionally Secure

            Attachment

            Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

            Greenspan’s Model of Affective Development

Building a Healthy Environment

            Structure and Consistency

            Routines

            Limits

            Constructive Consequences

            Logical Connections

Variety

Avoiding Frustration

Building Emotional Literacy

Promoting Appropriate Behavior Modeling

Facilitating Social Skills

            Use of Environmental Structuring

            Use of Typical Peers as Medicators of Social Skills

Encouraging Developmental Play Behavior

            The Importance of Play

            Development of Social Interaction Skills Through Play

            The Nature of Play

Helping Children with Emotional and Behavioral Challenges

            Individual Temperament

            Children Who Lack Self-Control

            A Word About Medication: Caution

            Children Who Are Reluctant to Participate

Use of Reinforcement

            Give Credit Where Credit Is Due

            Ignore Minor Disruptive Behaviors

            Minimize the Use of Negative Consequences

Positive Behavior Support

            Using Behavioral Analysis to Understand Disruptive Behavior

            Designing Positive Behavior Support Plans

Use of Social Stories

Special Considerations for Working with Children Who Have Been Abused and Neglected

Summary

 

Chapter 7: Helping Young Children Develop Motor and Self-Help Skills

 

The Development of Motor Skills

            Sequential Trends of Motor Development

            Helping Parents Understand

            Reflexive Development

            Developing Gross Motor Skills

            Developing Fine Motor Skills

Atypical Motor Development

            Problems in Muscle Development

Assessment of Motor Abilities

            Infants and Toddlers

            Severe Motor Impairments

            General Considerations for Assessment of All Young Children

            Play-Based Assessment

Physical Therapy Intervention

            Role of Therapists

            Approaches to Therapy

            Sensory Integration

            Positioning and Handling

            Proper Lifting

            Adaptive Equipment and Assistive Technology Devices

Development of Adaptive Behavior Skills

            Use of Task Analysis

            Dressing

            Toileting

            Feeding

Adapting the Environment

            The Classroom or Center

            The Home

            Movement Skills and Music

            Movement Skills and Imagination

            Adaptations in Movement Education

Summary

 

Chapter 8: Nurturing Communication Skills

The Subskills of Language

            Content, Use, and Form

            Semantics

            Syntax

            Morphology

            Phonology

            Pragmatics

Contribution of Social Interaction Theory to Understanding Early Communication Development

Stages of Development of Communication Skills in Young Children

            Prelinguistic Communication

            The Onset of Language

            Combining Words

Necessary Conditions for the Development of Communication Skills

            Characteristics That Can Interfere with Language Development

Characteristics That Can Interfere with the Production of Speech

Nurturing Speech, Language, and Conceptual Skills

The Important Role of Caregiver–Child Interaction

General Classroom Strategies That Encourage and Support Communication

            Beginning Where the Child Is

            Conversing with the Child

            Choosing What to Talk About

            Listening

            Developing Pragmatic Skills

            Expanding Skills

Communication Interventions for Young Children with Intensive Needs

            Communicating with Children Who Have Severe Disabilities

            Techniques for Teaching Expressive Communicative Behaviors: “Output Strategies”

            Identifying Behaviors That Can Be Used Communicatively

            Teaching Communicative Behaviors: Creating Opportunity and Need for Communication

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems

            Steps in Developing an AAC System

            Classroom Strategies That Facilitate Augmentative Communication Skills

            Using the Picture Exchange Communication System

Working with Children with Hearing Loss

            Specific Strategies for Working with Children with Hearing Loss

            Facilitating Comprehension of Speech

            Hearing Aids

            Cochlear Implants: Amazing Advances in Technology

            Supporting Spoken English

            Children with Intermittent Hearing Losses

Working with Children with Visual Impairments

Working with Children with Autism

            Use of Behavior Analysis Approaches with ASD

Working with Children with Severe Motor Disabilities

Working with Children with Language Differences

            Learning a New Language

            Stages of Second Language Learning

            Dual Language Learning and Home Language Maintenance

            Collaborative Consultation with Speech-Language Specialists

Summary

 

Chapter 9: Encouraging the Development of Cognitive Skills and Literacy

 

What Is Cognition?

Basic Cognitive Processes

            Attention

            Perception

Development of Cognitive Skills

            The Developmental Theory of Piaget

Demonstration of Cognitive Skills Through the Developmental Stage of Children’s Play

            Simple Manipulation

            Exploratory Play

            Functional Play

            Symbolic Play

Facilitating the Development of Cognitive Skills in Infants and Toddlers

            Intentionality

            Means–End Behavior

            Trial-and Error Exploration

            Object Permanence

            Deferred Imitation

Facilitating the Development of Cognitive Skills in Preschoolers

            Symbolic Representation

            Problem Solving

Working with Children Who Have Cognitive Disabilities

            Characteristics of Children with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

            Adapting Instruction

Facilitating Cognitive and Information-Processing Subskills Related to Academic Achievement

            Facilitating Children’s Engagement

            Structuring Learning Experiences

Emergent Math and Science

            Classification, Seriation, and Concept Development Facilitating Classification

            Problem Solving in a Montessori Classroom

            Facilitating Seriation

            Facilitating Concept Development

Development of Literacy

            The Precursors of Reading and Writing

            Relationship Between Oral Language and Literacy

            The Nature of School Language

Cultural Differences in Early Language and Literacy Experiences

            Differences in Children’s Early Use of Narratives

            Cultural Difference in Early Caregiver–Infant Interaction

            Cultural Differences in Uses of Print

Teaching Strategies That Facilitate Emergent Literacy Skills

            Whole-Language Versus Phonological Approaches to the Development of Literacy

            Teaching Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

            Developing Sight Word Vocabulary

Summary

 

Chapter 10: Teaming: Collaboration, Problem Solving, and Consultation

Collaboration, Problem Solving, and Shared Decision Making

            Communication Strategies: The Key to Successful Teaming

            Problem Solving and Conflict Resolution

            Dealing with Conflict: Perspective Taking and the Process of Conflict Resolution

            Problem-Solving Case Study: Paulo

Models for Supporting Children with Special Needs in Inclusive Settings

            No Support

            Use of One-to-One Assistant

            Staff Inservice Models

            Itinerant Consultation Model of Inclusion Support

            Responsibilities of the Inclusion Support Specialist in an Itinerant Consultant Role

            Unique Collaborative Challenges for Inclusion Specialists

            A Note on Disability Specialists and Therapists in Itinerant Service Delivery Roles

            Specific Support Strategies Provided by Itinerants

Coteaching Approaches to Inclusion Support

            Coteaching Defined

            Challenge of Coteaching

            Components of Effective Coteaching

            The IEP: The Key to Successful Inclusion

            Communication and Collaboration in Coteaching Models

            Problem Solving and Conflict Resolution in Coteaching Models

            Administrative Issues

            Stages of the Coteaching Relationship

Effective Teaming with Interdisciplinary Specialists

Working with Paraprofessionals

            Who Are the Paraprofessionals?

            Designing and Defining Jobs

            Communicating Expectations

            Discovering and Using Special Skills and Talents

            Defining the Teacher’s Responsibilities to Paraprofessionals

            Being an Appropriate Role Model

            Allowing for Sufficient Planning Time

            Providing Constructive Feedback: Coaching and Mentoring the Paraprofessional

Paraprofessionals as One-to-One Assistants

            Supervision of One-to-One Assistant in Inclusive Settings

            Guidelines for Use of One-to-One Assistants

Evaluating Paraprofessional Services

            Using Self-Evaluations

            Teacher-Initiated Evaluations of the Paraprofessional

            Paraprofessional’s Evaluation of the Teacher

            Preventing Paraprofessional Burnout

Summary

 

 

Appendix A: Chart of Typical Development

Appendix B: Find Your Child’s Speech and Hearing Age

Appendix C: Reflexes, Reactions, and Implications

Appendix D: Referral Signals Checklist

Appendix E: Competencies for Trainees in Early Childhood Special Education

Appendix F: Building Collaborative Relationships and Conflict Resolution: Effective Communication Strategies

Appendix G: Strategies for Helping Children with Specific Disabilities Participate in Inclusive Settings

Appendix H: Common Sequence of Training Steps Used in Milieu Approaches

Appendix I: Inclusion Support Itinerant Procedures

Appendix J: Web Sites Related to Young Children with Special Needs and Their Families

Appendix K: Periodicals Relevant to Early Childhood Special Education

 

References

Glossary

Name Index

Subject Index