Does it make a difference if you must tie the shoes of a two year old or of an eight year old?
Does it matter if you must spoon feed an infant or a three year old?
Does it matter if you must help a one year old to learn to walk, or a four year old?
Children with special needs are not scary.
They have the same needs as other children, why should age matter?
Children with special needs may need special equipment. They may need a special chair, or hearing aids. From experience, I have found that any special equipment is supplied to day care at no cost to us! There are many agencies that will help with the material needs of the special child. Day Care Providers need to supply the love!
Mary I spent several years working for the child care resource and referral agency as an inclusion specialist providing support to include children with special needs in community programming. You are right! Many providers are afraid of children with special needs. In some ways kids with special needs are easier than "typical" peers in that they come with a handbook (IFSP, IEP, ISP, therapy plan, doctor recomendations etc) where as the other kids you have to play the "get to know you" game.
ReplyDeleteAnother "ism" that I am fond of is that fair is not always equal. Is it equal that you assist with the shoe typing of one 8 year old and the rest are expected to be independent? No, but it certainly is fair if each child gets the individualized supports they need.
If anyone does not know how/what their local CCR&R is you can look it up at http://www.naccrra.org/
~Lora
Mary,
ReplyDeleteOn Monday I facilitated a Special Quest training and this was the exact topic we were discussing. Children with special needs need love and compassion and they need to be seen as a CHILD first not their different ability! We were stressing to the teachers, and they were all in agreement, that inclusion does not mean separate! Their children are pulled out of the classroom to work one-on-one with another teacher. We were explaining to them, and the video we watched was wonderful about this as well, that children should not be taken out of their classrooms rather the special ed teachers should come in. The children learn best when working with their peers and one of the most powerful statements from the training is "peers are powerful". When the special needs teacher comes into the classroom and works with the children, everyone benefits! I highly recommend anyone wanting to learn more about children with special needs that you visit www.specialquest.org. Their trainings and videos are truly inspiring!
Amy
Lora and Amy,
ReplyDeleteI am glad we are on the same page! I checked out the www.specialquest.org website, and found that it includes much useful information.
Mary L.
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you found it usefull! I love presenting their trainings. You can certainly tell a lot of time and effort went into creating their trainings!
Amy