Research that Benefits Children and Families

About 1 in 59 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to estimates from CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network (CDC, 2018). That is a staggering difference from the CDC's 2000 report of 1 in 150 children identified with ASD.  

CDC ADDM Network 2000-2014

With the prevalence of children being diagnosed with autism increasing, the need for research based strategies to support them in early childhood classrooms, at home, and in society is increasing.  At the age of 3, children can begin receiving special education services from their local school districts. These children can receive services at home, in childcare centers, in self-contained special education classrooms, Head Start, and prekindergarten classrooms.  The location of the services is agreed upon by the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committee, which includes the diagnostician, special education teacher, general education educator, administrator, parent, and other related service providers.

No matter where the child receives services, it is important supports are provided to ensure the student with autism is provided supports and strategies to ensure their success in its educational setting.  According to the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder at the University of North Carolina, some interventions that researchers have shown to be effective with children with autism are called evidence-based practices (EBPs). ""One reason for using EBPs is because, by law, teaching practices must be based on evidence of effectiveness" (NPDCASD, n.d.). One such evidence-based practice is visual supports.

"Visual supports can help to provide structure and routine, encourage independence, build confidence, improve understanding, avoid frustration and anxiety, and provide opportunities to interact with others. They can make communication physical and consistent, rather than fleeting and inconsistent like spoken words can be" (R.A.-UK, n.d.).  Visual supports include tactile symbols or objects, photographs, short videos, colored pictures, line drawings, symbols, and written words.  The supports are developed to meet the individual child's needs and preferences.  When used consistently with the child in the early childhood setting, the child can develop independence, increased social and emotional development, increased communication skills, and decreased levels of anxiety and frustration.

As a special education teacher, I saw the difference with the students receiving Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities (PPCD) services in my self-contained special education classroom and the prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms.  I had my daily schedule posted for all students to reference while some of my students with autism referred to their individual picture schedules that were either posted on the classroom wall or in a portable file folder.  Classroom was labeled to help students know where materials belonged and what learning centers were available to explore.  Behavioral cue cards were used by myself and my paraprofessionals to help students understand requests and directives, such as sit, line-up, go potty, et. al..  Once the supports were used consistently and the level of support was identified, a parent-teacher conference was held to educate the parent on the visual supports used with their child, identify any support needed at home, make the visual supports for the family, and develop a plan of action for the parent to incorporate the supports at home.  

References:

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2018). Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Retrieved January 26, 2019 from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html. 

National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder (NPDCASD). (n.d.). Evidence-based practices. Retrieved January 26, 2019 from https://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/evidence-based-practices.

Research Autism- United Kingdom (R.A.- UK) (n.d.). Visual Supports. Retrieved January 26, 2019 from http://www.researchautism.net/autism-interventions/types/motor-sensory-interventions/sight-based-interventions/visual-supports.

Personal Research Journey

As an early childhood special education specialist, I am professionally and personally passionate about young children with disabilities having every opportunity – socially, emotionally, academically – as their same-age peers.  I have chosen to focus my simulation on the effectiveness of inclusive practices in early childhood education with the three subtopics being the benefits of inclusion, establishing an inclusive culture, and overcoming the barriers of inclusion.

My teaching career began on a self-contained special education campus that served children between the ages of 3 – 22 with varying abilities and disabilities.  For many of these children placement in a general education classroom would have been the most restrictive learning environment.  My fifth year of teaching, I transitioned to teaching children that were 3-, 4-, and 5-years-old with disabilities in a self-contained special education classroom on a general education campus.  For some of my students, placement in my classroom was the least restrictive environment (LRE); however, for others, my classroom was more restrictive, and for these students my classroom became a transition into the general education classroom.  It became my goal to “kick these students out of my classroom” and transition them into the general education classroom with their grade-level peers.

As a specialist serving multiple school districts and charter schools, I am discovering more children being served in self-contained special education classrooms and less being served in the general education classroom with their grade-level peers.  I want to learn more about how to help early childhood educators and parents understand the benefits of early childhood inclusive practices.  To do this I need to develop a better understanding of the overall benefits of inclusion for children with and without disabilities, how to develop a healthy inclusive culture within the classroom and on the campus, and what barriers to inclusion there are and how to overcome these barriers to ensure successful inclusion in early childhood.

One of my favorite references to share during professional development training and conversations with educators and families on inclusion in early childhood is the Policy Statement on Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs released in 2015 by the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Health and U.S. Human Services.  It states that "inclusion in early childhood programs refers to including children with disabilities in early childhood programs, together with their peers without disabilities; holding high expectations and intentionally promoting participation in all learning and social activities, facilitated by individualized accommodations; and using evidence-based services and supports to foster their development (cognitive, language, communication, physical, behavioral, and social-emotional), friendships with peers, and sense of belonging” (ED & HHS, 2015).  

As we progress through Week 1 and now transition to Week 2, I am beginning to be develop a better understanding that as I explore research articles, new articles, websites, and other medias about the early childhood inclusion, I must be mindful of what is truly research-based materials and reports.  These articles, websites, et.al. must adhere to the to the accepted standards/guidelines regarding quality research and/or scientific information.  To truly serve the district administrators, educators, parents, and children, it is my responsibility to ensure the information used to coach, train, and inform is from high-quality research.  

The internet is overflowing with information and research on early childhood, special education, and inclusive practices.  I tend to search information on one topic and gradually find myself with multiple tabs and windows open in Google.  It is easy for me to become overwhelmed with an over abundant amount of information that may or may not be related to my initial search topic. I try to save research documents in my Google-drive and website in Symbaloo.  I am curious, how do you manage the information and resources you acquire when researching a topic?  

Reference:

U.S. Department of Education (ED) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  (2015).  Policy Statement on Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs.  Retrieved January 13, 2019 from https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/joint-statement-full-text.pdf.