Transcript Atypical Development - Debbie Laffranchini

Introduction to Children with
Special Needs
Philosophy of Early Education
Best Practices
1.
The professional treats special education
field with an attitude of science
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Respect data-based information
Evaluate the effects of new procedures
Evaluate the effects of materials
Evaluate the effects of interventions
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What is the impact on childrren and families
Best Practices
2.
Early childhood professional values
inclusion in the natural setting
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Age appropriate activities
Peers of diverse backgrounds and abilities
Best Practices
3.
Effective professional is culturally
sensitive
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Prepared to work with various populations
and cultures
Respectful and supportive
Best Practices
4.
Professional in early childhood education
recognizes that very young children are a
part of their larger family support
systems and the environments that
surround them
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Direct services (Physical therapy,
occupational therapy, speech therapy)
provided in context of family needs in ways
that do not disempower families
Best Practices
5. Early childhood professional works
collaboratively with experts from other
disciplines to provide comprehensive
services
Best Practices
6.
Early childhood special educators must
have the highest ethical standards
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Serve as advocates for parents and children
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Both politically and professionally
Through service to their communities
Attitude of Science
Parsimonious
 Empirical
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Attitude of Science
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Parsimony: look for the simple
explanation before investigating more
complicated possibilities
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Example: small infant wakes crying in the
night, first see if they are hungry or wet
instead of thinking they are experiencing
separation anxiety or have an intestinal
infection
Attitude of Science (cont)
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Many methods of intervention evolved
from complicated, unobserved, and
untestable theories
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Example: patterning or neural training
 Experts
claimed if parents did rigorous exercises a
specified number of times a day at specific
intervals their children would “be normal”
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Later found to be ineffective (not to say anything of the
stress on families, especially when their children did not
improve and it was “their fault” because they missed the
exercises one day a year ago!)
Attitude of Science (cont)
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Deal with facts rather than what someone
says about the facts
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Be willing to accept facts even when they are
opposed to wishes or personal beliefs
(Skinner, 1953)
Attitude of Science (cont)
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Rely on “empirical” evidence
Something you can observe
 Something you can experiment with
 Based on the outcome of “empirical
evidence”, decide to continue or discontinue a
procedure
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Attitude of Science (cont)
Empirical evidence attempts to discover
order
 Empirical evidence attempts to show the
relatedness of events
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Attitude of Science (cont)
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Teachers and researchers attempt to
“replicate” results
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Get the same result as others before
Attitude of Science (cont)
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Theory or principle has predictive ability
that is helpful in deciding what to do
If something is predictive, and replicatable, we
have confidence in the theory
 Then that theory becomes part of a
“conceptual system”
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 Historically
somebody’s “collection of tricks” are
difficult to expand systematically, especially if the
tricks are extensive, difficult to learn, and difficult to
teach
Attitude of Science (cont)
Applied Behavior Analysis is a data-based
conceptual system that is of great value to
educators
 They are “parsimonious”
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Attitude of Science (cont)
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For a behaviorist, all learning principles
are defined on the basis of what is actually
happening, not what we think is happening
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Observation is critical
Attitude of Science (cont)
Scientific teacher builds on natural talent
for working with children and families
 Draw from a knowledge-base of concepts
that work
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Parsimonious
 Empirical
 Replicable
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Attitude of Science (cont)
Science must never replace values
 Values should not replace empiricism
 Professionals must balance both
 Professionals must embrace a philosophy
of advocacy that determines, explains, and
is effective
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Inclusion
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Least restrictive environment
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1975 legislation, Individuals with Disabilities
Act (IDEA)
 Prior
to 1975, 1 million children were excluded
from public schools
 Children who did go to school received inadequate
services in isolated settings
Inclusion (cont)
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Goal of instruction is to move students
closer to being successful in the regular
classroom
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Mildest disabilities have greatest success in
inclusive settings
 Learning
disabilities
 Health impairments
 Orthopedic impairment
 Hearing impairment
Inclusion (cont)
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Students with more “difficult” disabilities
have had less progress toward moving to
the regular classrooms
Mental retardation
 Deaf-blindness
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 Only
a small percentage are educated in the
regular classroom
Inclusion (cont)
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Multiply disabled have made least
progress toward moving into less
restrictive environments
Inclusion (cont)
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New language: “Natural Setting”, it is
hoped that now educators and decision
makers cannot misinterpret the intent of
the law from 1975
Inclusion (cont)
Special education is a service
 Special education is NOT a place
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Inclusion (cont)
Controversy over inclusion
 Preschools are easiest to include
 Full inclusion: general classroom teacher
is primary interventionist
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Frequent and regular consultation with
educational specialists, administrators,
parents to make decisions
 Controversy:
teachers don’t feel adequately
trained and often have an attitude of resistance
Justification for Inclusion
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Been justified with arguments in all of the
following areas:
Social reasons
 Philosophical reasons
 Ethical reasons
 Legal reasons
 Empirical arguments
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Justification for Inclusion (cont)
1.
Children who are educated together
learn important lifelong lessons and
skills, whether they have a disability or
not
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Children have to have opportunities to
develop skills to get along and need
appropriate social models
Justification for Inclusion (cont)
2. When people are segregated, labeled, or
treated in any way that sets them further
apart for their differences, their worth is
devalued
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The person begins to see themselves as
less valuable
Their behavior matches their devalued
status
Justification for Inclusion (cont)
3.
Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment to the
Constitution provided the legal basis for
the “Civil Rights Act of 1965”
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1973 Section 504 of the Vocational
Rehabilitation Act: “No person can be
discriminated against solely on the basis of
their disability”
Justification for Inclusion (cont)
Identify strategies to improve the student’s
success within natural settings
 Children must not prove that they are
ready for regular classrooms, we do not
ask that of nondisabled children
 Research indicates that children with and
without disabilities perform at least as well
in integrated settings
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Justification for Inclusion (cont)
4.
Personnel issues, segregated settings
are the greatest challenge
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Wide range of ages
Wide range of disabilities
Significant behavioral problems because all
children are disabled, learning new
behaviors from each other, most of which
are not helpful behaviors
Limited language skills
High teacher resignations or burnout
Opposition to Inclusion
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Lack of input or initiative from regular educators
Lack of empirical evidence
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Currently only small or suggestive research due to
programs not willing to try
Teacher resistance, therapist resistance
Educational reform
Protective feelings, want to protect the disabled
from hurt feelings, ridicule
Impracticality
Opposition to Inclusion (cont)
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27 studies surveying 10,000 teachers found:
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Most generally favor inclusion
Fewer than 1/3 felt inclusion was best placement
30% felt including children with disabilities would be
too disruptive
Fewer than 25% felt they had sufficient time to
include
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Not properly prepared
Would not be given sufficient training
Opposition to Inclusion (cont)
Some educators feel full inclusionists are
too uncompromising and presumptive
 Some educators feel full inclusionists are
too unrealistic
 Some individuals with disabilities resent
the idea that special education is immoral
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Deaf community
THE DEBATE CONTINUES
Summary of Inclusion
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Research demonstrates that regular and
special education teachers who have
sufficient training for inclusion felt more
confident and had a positive attitude for
inclusion, learned effective strategies
Summary of Inclusion (cont)
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Effective strategies:
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Team teaching with regular and special education
teachers
All services delivered in the regular classroom with all
children
Cooperative learning
Peer tutoring
Parallel curricula
Use of technology
Accompanied by paraprofessionals