Question
What is inclusion?
Answer
Inclusion means making all programs and settings, including educational programs or community activities in which typical children and their families participate, accessible, and available to children with disabilities in their families. Inclusion is integrating infants and young children with disabilities into typical educational settings and programs like family child care homes and center-based programs. It also means placing children with disabilities in the same educational programs and setting their parents will choose for them to attend if they did not have disabilities. Inclusion is providing opportunities for special education services to be provided within typical educational settings.
For example, a child with a certified Individual Education Plan (IEP) may be receiving speech therapy in the classroom or family childcare home or a child with an Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) for occupational therapy may be receiving services provided by an early start agency at a family child care home.
Inclusion is providing adequate support and training to caregivers, service providers, and families. It is addressing parents' concerns and priorities for their infants, children, and adults.
This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the course, Working with Children with Disabilities: Inclusion Works!, in partnership with Region 9 Head Start Association, presented by Piret Leonetti, EdD.
