Early Childhood Special Education

 

What is Early Childhood Special Education?

Early Childhood Special education is a system of services and support- including individualized instruction, supplemental aids, assistive technology, transitional support services and related services that young children with disabilities have a right to receive. The delivery of special education services is governed by the federal law called IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT)

In New York State, various agencies collaborate to locate, identify, screen, assess, evaluate and provide a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for children with disabilities.

Steps to Early Childhood Special Education

1. The Referral: If a child is suspected of having a disability, he or she is referred to the appropriate agency for a free diagnostic evaluation performed by a multidisciplinary team.

If the child is an infant or toddler (birth to two years of age) he or she is referred to the Early Intervention Program. If the child is 3 years old or older the parent, teacher, doctor, or other professional from an Early Childhood program or agency may refer him to the Committee on Preschool Special Education that arranges an evaluation of his or her abilities and needs. Based on those results, the Committee decides if the child is eligible for special education services.

2. The Evaluation: Upon parental consent, the Committee arranges for an interdisciplinary team to evaluate the child using a variety of assessment tools and strategies that determine the type of disability and how it affects the youngster’s learning process.

The initial evaluation can include:

• A Medical Exam
• A Psychological Assessment
• A Social Background
• Observations in natural and structured settings
• Other evaluations as necessary
• Interviews with Parents, Families or Caregivers. ( Key participants in the evaluation process as they provide essential information about the child’s unique needs).

3. Eligibility: The child is eligible for Early Childhood Special Education services, if the evaluation results show a disability due to physical, mental or emotional conditions. Even though the Committee chooses a disability category for the child’s condition, this does not determine the types of services that he or she will receive. An individualized plan is designed later on to meet the unique needs of each child.

4. The Individualized Education Program (IEP): Once eligibility and diagnoses are determined, the Committee designs an IEP to meet the needs of each preschooler. An EIP is a written educational plan for a child with disabilities designed by an appropriate team of professionals and with active participation from the child’s parents. The plan describes how the child is presently doing, what are his or her learning needs and what special services will he or she require.

Whenever possible, the child will attend the regular school he or she would be assigned to if not disabled; this way giving the child the opportunity to get the individualized instruction he or she needs in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE); an LRE setting is a place that gives the child with disabilities the opportunity to work and learn to his or her maximum ability, with his or her non-disabled peers.

Natural, inclusive and minimally restrictive settings include:

• Early Childhood Programs and Centers
• Special Preschool Classes
• The Child’s Home
• Other facilities such as the service provider’s environment, hospitals and community settings.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the United State’s Special Education federal law that guarantees that all eligible students receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) that meets their needs in the least restrictive environment (LRE). IDEA allocates federal dollars to state resources that offer a variety of educational services for students with disabilities.

IDEA was first enacted in 1975, amended several times including in 1997 by President Bill Clinton, and reauthorized by President Bush in December of 2004. The act is aligned to the No Child Left Behind Act and organized in four parts:

• Part A-General Provisions: Contains the purpose of the act and the definition of terms.
• Part B- Education for Children with Disabilities (Preschool and School Age Programs): Includes the procedures to follow related to the education of preschool and school aged children, individual evaluations, eligibility criteria, Individualized Education Programs (IEP) and educational placements.
• Part C- Refers to the provisions for infants and toddlers with disabilities: Early intervention and other services for infants and toddlers and their families.
• Part D- Support Services: Includes the supports available to national activities that improve the education of children with disabilities such as: personnel professional development activities, technical assistance and research.

Get More Information and News on IDEA

Disabilities in Early Childhood

There are a wide variety of developmental disabilities and other conditions that affect the learning ability of young children and qualify them for Early Childhood Special Education services. Below, you will find a brief description of the disability categories established by Federal and State laws as conditions that seriously affect children’s educational performance:

• Autism: A developmental disability that affects verbal and non verbal communication, social interaction and other behaviors. The disability is present before the age of 3 and characterized by language delays, restricted reciprocal social interaction, repetitive activities and movements, resistance to change and unusual responses to sensory stimulation.
• Deafness: Hearing impairment that does not allow children to process linguistic information through hearing.
• Deaf-blindness: A combination of hearing and visual impairments that causes severe communication problems.
• Emotional disturbance:A condition that presents one or more of the following characteristics for a long period of time:
  • Inability to learn that cannot be explained by cognitive, sensory or health conditions.
  • Incapacity to build and maintain appropriate relationship with others
  • Inappropriate behaviors
  • Constant unhappiness or depression
  • Unfounded fears accompanied by physical symptoms
• Hearing Impairment: A mild to severe hearing loss that impedes adequate processing of linguistic information and that can be improved through the use of amplification devices (hearing aides).
• Learning Disability: Includes perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, developmental aphasia and other disorders in one or more psychological process involved in understanding or using language.
• Mental Retardation: A developmental disability characterized by a lower-than-average intelligency and limited adaptive behavior. Typically characterized by limitations in mental functioning and basic abilities such as social behavior, communication and self-care.
• Multiple Disabilities: A combination of impairments other than deafness-blindness.
• Orthopedic Impairment: Impairments cased by congenital anomaly, disease or other causes such as accidents that can be painful and limit children’s mobility, strength, speed, endurance and/or coordination.
• Other health-impairment: Limited alertness and strength due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, hemophilia, epilepsy, heart condition, leukemia, attention deficit disorder or others
• Speech or Language Impairment: A communication disorder such as stuttering, impaired language, voice or articulation
• Traumatic Brain Injury: Injury to the brain caused by a medical condition like encephalitis, aneurysm or anoxia or by an external force such as an accident
• Visual Impairment Including Blindness: A wide range of impairments to the vision such as blindness, partially sighted, low vision and cortical visual impediment.

Get specific information on each disability in our Resources section.

New York State Early Intervention Program

The Early Intervention Program is a nationwide initiative that provides services to children with disabilities or developmental delays who are less than 3 years of age, and their families. In New York State, the Department of Health and Mental Health is the lead state agency responsible for the Early Intervention Program.

The Early Intervention program serves infants and toddlers with diagnosed physical or medical conditions and/or developmental delays in one or more of the following areas:

• Physical
• Cognitive
• Communication
• Social-emotional
• Adaptive

Early Intervention Services can include:

• Evaluation services (including hearing and vision screening)
• Home visits
• Speech, physical and other therapies
• Nursing and nutrition
• Child development groups
• Special instruction
• Family counseling and parental support groups
• Assistive technology and devices
• Respite (temporary care for a child with disabilities)
• And, sometimes, help with transportation

Early Intervention services can be provided anywhere in the community, including:

• The child’s home.
• Early childhood programs and centers (including family day care homes)
• Recreational centers, play groups, playgrounds, libraries, or any other natural environment in the community

Early Intervention services are provided only by Qualified Personnel: professionals who are licensed, certified or registered in their discipline and approved by the NYS Department of Health and Mental Health.

Get the list of qualified personnel, read more about the application process and learn more about the models of service delivery.

Steps to Obtain Early Intervention Services

1. The Referral: Parents, doctors, teachers or others suspect a developmental delay or disability in the young child and refer him or her to the Early Intervention Official in their county. The family is then informed of the Early Intervention Program, its purpose and benefits and an Initial Service coordinator is assigned to the case.
2. The Initial Service Coordinator: Obtains relevant information from the family including medical and social histories, gives the family information about the program services and their rights as parents, helps the family find an evaluator and collaborates with other city agencies serving the family. Read more about their role.
3. The Evaluation: Is performed by an interdisciplinary team that determines the child’s eligibility for the program and the family’s needs and concerns. The information gathered is used to create the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP).
4. The Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) design: The IFSP is a written statement developed by the team to meet the unique needs of the child identified during the evaluation. The IFSP must include the following information:
   • The Child's development levels
   • Family characteristics
   • Major outcomes expected to be achieved for the child and family
   • Services the child will be receiving
   • When and where the child will receive these services
   • Steps to be taken to support the transition of the child to another program
   • Name of the Service coordinator assigned to the child and family
5. The 6 Month IFSP Review: The IFSP team reviews the initial plan goals and expected outcomes and increases or minimizes services as needed.
6. The Transition: When the child turns 3 years old, he or she will need to transition to other services such as Early Childhood Special Education programs in inclusion settings. The Early Intervention service provider helps the child and family take the necessary steps to obtain the new services and adjust to the new setting.

Get More Information about the NYS Early Intervention Program

General Guidelines for Working with Young Children with Disabilities And Their Families

1. Think first of the child as a child- more like other children than different: All children need emotional support and a safe, nurturing environment with people who respect their individual needs.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
3. Relax and trust your ability to care for the child.
4. Find out about the particular disability.
5. Find out more about this particular child:
   • What kinds of activities does the child enjoy?
   • How does your child move around (walking, crawling, with a bracer, a walker)?
   • How does the child interact with other children and/or adults?
   • Is the child on a special diet and how does he/she eat?
   • What are the child’s special needs?
   • What medications does the child need? (schedule, amounts, possible side effects)
   • Any other special accommodations
6. Find out if the child is getting any special services:
   • What services? Where? When?
   • Can you talk to the service provider?
   • Will another professional be coming to your classroom or home?
   • How can you reinforce what others are doing?
7. Keep your expectations positive, yet realistic. Don’t overprotect: A balance is necessary: allow freedom and choices and offer assistance when needed.
8. Support the child’s family-show acceptance and understanding.
9. Learn how to deal with questions or concerns from other children and parents.
10. Children like to follow routines: include exercise, play, good food and fresh air in your program.

- From the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and Banana Child Care Information & Referral Handout “Inclusion- Caring for Children with Special Needs”