Providing Services to Young Children with Disabilities through

Providing Services to Young Children with Disabilities through Inclusive Child Care Dubai International Rehabilitation Forum March 7, 2006 12: 40 -13: 00 Session 3: Marketing of Special Needs Projects

Topics u u u Desired Goals of Early Intervention Rationale for Child Care-based Services Outcomes in the U. S. Barriers: Overall Quality of Child Care Necessary Resources An Example of Success

Early Intervention Goals u u u u to support families in achieving their own goals for their children to promote child engagement, independence, and mastery to promote development in key domains to build and support children’s social competence to promote generalized use of skills to provide and prepare for normalized life experiences to prevent the emergence of future problems or disabilities

Child Care-based Early Intervention Services Natural context of services for children and families u Opportunities for physical, communication, and social skill building u With qualified teachers and aids, opportunities for cognitive skill building as well u Reduction in services families need to go to u

Roots of Early Intervention in the United States Special Education (Behavioral analysis) u Compensatory Education (e. g. , Head Start) u Early Childhood Education (DAP) u

U. S. Principles of Early Intervention 2 Family-centered services 2 Normalization and services in natural environments 2 Variety of service delivery models 2 Diversity of children and families served 2 Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary service models 2 Functional and developmental programming strategies 2 Individualized programming 2 Blending of philosophical perspectives (developmental, behavioral, ecological/functional)

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Necessary Components u u u u Low staff: child ratios; small group sizes; associate or bachelor level trained teachers; low turn-over; well-educated directors and administrators Engaged, responsive interactions between teachers and children Planned, purposeful, goaloriented activities that emerge from children’s interests, activities, and backgrounds

Challenges to Child Care-based Early Intervention Skills and training of child care staff u Turn-over of child care staff u Resistance of staff and families of children without disabilities u Resistance of physicians and other rehabilitation providers u Wide variation in overall quality of child care programs u Lack of monitoring of child care program quality u

Quality Profile of Center-Based Programs Serving 3 to 5 -year-olds in Delaware 38. 6% N=64 48. 2% N=80 26. 5% N=44 42. 8% N=71 37. 6% N=62 9. 7% N=16 59. 4% N=98 43. 9% N=72 45. 5% N=60 34. 8% N=57 42. 4% N=56 21. 3% N=35 12. 1% N=16 47. 9% N=79 42. 4% N=70 20. 0% N=33 13. 3% N=22 30. 7% N=51 20. 0% N=33 42. 4% N=70 20. 6% N=34 Figure Legend = rating of “poor” = rating of “mediocre” = rating of “good”

Quality Profile of Center-Based Programs Serving Infants and Toddlers in Delaware 21. 3% N=24 8. 8% N=10 53. 1% N=60 25. 7% N=29 70. 8% N=80 8. 0% N=9 47. 8% N=54 23. 9% N=27 29. 6% N=29 32. 7% N=37 20. 4% N=23 33. 6% N=38 46. 0% N=52 38. 1% N=43 50. 4% N=57 50. 0% N=49 33. 6% N=38 46. 0% N=52 14. 2% N=16 25. 7% N=29 20. 4% N=20 Figure Legend = rating of “poor” = rating of “mediocre” = rating of “good”

Quality Profile of Head Start and Early Childhood Assistance Programs in Delaware Designed to Serve Children in Poverty and with Disabilities 62. 2% N=51 36. 6% N=30 1. 2% N=1 52. 4% N=43 34. 1% N=28 13. 4% N=11 43. 9% N=36 18. 3% N=15 50. 0% N=41 75. 6% N=62 6. 1% N=5 68. 3% N=56 65. 9% N=54 69. 1% N=38 17. 1% N=14 31. 7% N=26 29. 1% N=16 14. 6% N=12 2. 4% N=2 1. 8% N=1 Figure Legend = rating of “poor” = rating of “mediocre” = rating of “good”

Ensuring High Quality Child Care and Early Intervention u u u Meaningful partnerships with children’s families and specialists Teachers with associate or bachelor degrees in early care and education and significant knowledge of child development and curriculum development and implementation Programs that embrace and incorporate the cultures and communities of the children they serve

Ensuring High Quality Child Care and Early Intervention (continued) u u Program directors with advanced expertise and experience in early care and education, including the ability to manage and lead Excellent capacity to address language, literacy, and numeracy components of children’s development Excellent capacity to address social-emotional components of children’s development On-going training and development for teachers and administrators that focus on special needs

University of Delaware Early Learning u Child care center for 225 children birth Center to 12 years of age u u u 20% children with disabilities 40% children living in poverty provides state of the art, evidencebased, education, prevention, and intervention services Currently conducts 18 research studies within the Center focusing on neurological development; PT, OT, and speech treatments strategies, and a host of other topics Currently provides training to over 2, 000 undergraduate and graduate students through clinical and research experiences each semester Currently provides training and technical assistance early care and education providers throughout the state

University of Delaware Early Learning Center Examples 4 year old with Down syndrome u 28 month old toddler with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy and blindness u 10 month old infant with visual impairment, mild cerebral palsy and a 40% cognitive delay u

Next Steps u To work with community child care setting to: – Increase staff knowledge and skills about physical, sensory, communication, and cognitive disabilities – Reduce staff resistance to serving children with special needs – Provide technical assistance support as community-based child care settings serve children with special needs

Contact Information Karen Rucker, Director University of Delaware Early Learning Center 489 Wyoming Avenue Newark, DE 19716 USA krucker@udel. edu +1 302 831 6205 Michael Gamel. Mc. Cormick, Director Center for Disabilities Studies 166 Graham Hall University of Delaware Newark, DE 19716 USA mgm@udel. edu +1 302 831 6974 www. udel. edu/cds