Special Education: Life-Long Learning: Early Childhood Special Education and Transition to Adulthood
Introduction
Teachers become involved with the families of all their students. Parent and family concerns, hopes, and experiences become their own concerns, hopes, and experiences. Teachers may often become the first contacts for parents of young children with disabilities for services available to assist them in meeting their children’s special needs.
Special education early intervention will make a significant difference in the lives of the children and of their parents and families. In addition, the principles governing early childhood special education are applicable in all educational areas, in all levels of severity, and in all categories of disability for students of all ages.
This module should help teachers understand early childhood intervention for children with disabilities, so they may provide accurate information to those parents who need to know. It should also train teachers to determine what is necessary for students with disabilities to make a successful transition from school to adult life and to follow specific procedures necessary to achieve this goal.
There are as many defined goals of education as there are educated people. For example, one purpose of education is to provide students with knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in adult life and to live a quality of life of their own choosing with the responsibility to contribute to the good of society. Educators need to focus their efforts on the transition from school to adult life by defining appropriate specific goals and objectives, instructional activities, and available community resources to provide opportunities for students with disabilities.
Early Childhood Special Education
Early childhood development is sequential, predictable, and occurs at an incredibly rapid rate. Infants seemingly learn almost spontaneously or naturally. Children with disabilities learn skills in the same sequential manner but at a slow and uneven rate and must be taught by direct instruction. Parents and teachers can take nothing for granted.
Early Intervention Makes a Difference: Hope Through Research
Since 1965, it has been commonly recognized that giving children at risk of failure a head start in education enhances their prospects for success in school. While there are concerns regarding its scientific methodology, research has indicated that beginning the education
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Special Education: Life-Long Learning: Early Childhood Special Education and Transition to Adulthood
of children with disabilities at a preschool age can result in higher achievement. Early studies challenged the myth that intelligence was fixed at birth: children with disabilities could indeed achieve beyond expectations. Recent studies indicate that intensive direct instruction with extensive family participation offered concurrently at a center and at home significantly influenced the achievement of both mother and child.
What is early intervention? According to Heward (2000), early intervention provides “a wide range of educational, nutritional, child care, and family supports” (p. 156) for children birth to 5 years. Early intervention special education programs enable educators and parents to promote child development and independence at an earlier age by correcting or minimizing the effects of the disability. In addition, with accurate assessment, there is the opportunity to prevent or discover secondary disabilities quickly. Such programs make economic sense by eliminating costs necessary for future, more intensive special education, expensive related services, or later residential placement, all of which have proven necessary without intervention. Probably most significant for parents is the individualized personal support provided to families struggling to cope with the challenges of raising their child with disabilities.
Early Intervention Makes a Difference: Opportunities through Law
Congress reauthorized the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, PL 94-142, in 1986, and later updated it again in 1997 and 2004. That final reauthorization extended mandatory educational services to children with developmental delays or disabilities from ages 3 to 5 and offered voluntary incentives for educational programs for children from birth to age two. Included in the law are services intended to promote the well-being of families of children with disabilities (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997).
Eligibility for Early Intervention
Educators must remember that children at such an early age are not identified by the categories of disability as defined in IDEA. The common term is developmental delay, “significant delays, or atypical patterns of development” (Heward, 2000, p. 163). Specific criteria for eligibility for early intervention special education programs include evidence of the following:
· Cognitive, physical, social-emotional, or adaptive developmental delays.
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Special Education: Life-Long Learning: Early Childhood Special Education and Transition to Adulthood
· Physical or medical conditions that will likely lead to developmental delays (established conditions).
· The expectation of developmental delay without early intervention, for example, biological or environmental risk factors that result in developmental delays (documented risks).
The federal government sponsors Child Find, a part of IDEA, which is a nationwide program that actively searches for children who may need early intervention special education programs. Hospitals, schools, parent groups, and community organizations participate in this program. Screening tests identify children who may be eligible for services. Further comprehensive assessment follows with diagnostic tests in cognitive, motor, communication, social, emotional, and adaptive skills. Finally, program planning takes place in the form of the individual family service plan.
The Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP)
The Individual Education Program (IEP) and the Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) were both mandated by IDEA. The IEP provides appropriate education for children with disabilities of school age, whereas the IFSP provides services for children with developmental delays from birth to age five and their families. The plan requires a yearly evaluation by a multidisciplinary team, and a family review every six months. Family involvement, of course, is essential. The team also consists of health professionals; early childhood educators; social workers; psychologists, and speech/language pathologist, physical, and occupational therapists.
Some components of the IFSP are similar to those of the IEP: present levels of performance, goals, and objectives with criteria for mastery, strategies, and timelines (for child and family), and initiation date and duration of services. Specific to the IFSP, however, is identification and description of family resources, concerns, and needs, the natural environment, services for the child and family, an appropriate service coordinator, and a transition plan.
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Special Education: Life-Long Learning: Early Childhood Special Education and Transition to Adulthood
Service Delivery Models
IDEA mandates appropriate placement of children with disabilities in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), as previously discussed. In like manner, the needs of infants, toddlers, preschool children, and their families determine where early intervention special education programs take place. There are hospital-based programs for newborns, home-based programs that develop parent training, and center-based programs that offer a variety of services. In every case, a transdisciplinary team approach is most effective when it includes physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists, educators, speech/language pathologists, and physical and occupational therapists. Whatever the model chosen, the essential element of any successful early intervention special education program is extensive and active parent participation.
Transition to Adulthood
Transitions Are for Everyone
Change is a fact of life. Some changes mean that there is no turning back and that life will be different from now on. Transitions are critical turning points in the life of an individual. Most transitions mean assuming new roles and responsibilities and learning new ways of behaving. Most people take much for granted in daily life, recognizing the similarities and differences of their experiences. They adjust their behavior and generalize. What they took for granted before the transition often needs special attention after the transition. The ability to make successful transitions is determined by adaptive skills, the ability to change behavior to meet the demands of the new situation effectively.
Routine skills that are taken for granted often become major transitions in the lives of persons with disabilities. Any change in the environment of a person with a disability might mean a significant transition in that person’s life. A person with disabilities may spend a considerable amount of time and effort learning a skill in a particular environment. In addition to learning new skills necessary for new environments, persons with disabilities frequently have difficulties with the generalization of a previously learned skill across settings, time, and people.
The Goals and Achievement of Special Education
Education for persons with disabilities, then, means preparing for transitions. Because most children with disabilities become adults with disabilities, special education means
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Special Education: Life-Long Learning: Early Childhood Special Education and Transition to Adulthood
preparing persons with disabilities for the transition to adulthood. Adults with disabilities must continue their education to meet all the transitions they must face in their daily lives. Follow-up and follow-along research indicates that a majority of adults with disabilities do not achieve the quality of life available to persons without disabilities. Far too many students drop out of school before graduation. Few students pursue postsecondary education. A very significant percentage of adults are unemployed. Those who work have unskilled, low-paying jobs with few benefits and are last hired, first fired. Adults with disabilities frequently work in jobs below their abilities. They often live dependent lives without opportunities to participate fully in community life.
IDEA-2004: Transition
Because persons with disabilities, their parents and advocates, special educators, and concerned professionals asked what special education has achieved, the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA mandated transition services for students with disabilities. Special education transition services must effectively prepare students with disabilities for adult life. Based on student needs and preferences, and with the assistance of community resources, the educational program must include preparation for continuing education, employment, independent living, and community participation as well as any necessary continuing community support services
The Individualized Transition Plan (ITP)
As part of the IEP, teams design the Individualized Transition Plan (ITP) for all students with disabilities at age 16. Students with disabilities, their parents, educators, and representatives from community agencies plan just what special education will achieve. The ITP will document the following components:
· Postschool outcomes and number of school years remaining.
· Present level of performance related to postschool outcomes.
· Coordinated activities necessary to achieve postschool outcomes based on student needs and interests.
· Goals and objectives, identifying daily and functional skills, community, employment, continuing educational needs.
· Community agency responsibilities.
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Special Education: Life-Long Learning: Early Childhood Special Education and Transition to Adulthood
Transition Program Components
Any model of transition must provide guidelines for designing an educational program that meets all the needs of students with disabilities as they begin adult life. Considering their needs, educators should recognize that transition programs might need to begin in early intervention special education programs. At the high school level, every need of students with disabilities for transition to adult live will be addressed. Based on the educator’s knowledge of the variety of community resources and assessment of the student, the resulting program will include the development of functional academic and social skills, self-care and independent living skills, employment opportunities, skills necessary for living in the community, even recreation and leisure skills. Most importantly, students should learn self-advocacy, the ability to make personal choices and recognize and use personal strengths and talents and the knowledge of when to ask for necessary assistance.
Conclusion
This lesson has investigated the beginning and end of special education: the student with disabilities as an infant or toddler ready to take advantage of an appropriate education and the high school graduate ready to face the challenges of adulthood.
Chapter 3 Notes
Inclusion and Multidiscipline Collaboration In the Early Childhood and Elementary School Years
Define inclusive education
· Inclusive education may be defined as placing students with disabilities in a general education setting within their home or neighborhood school while making available both formal and natural supports to ensure an appropriate educational experience.
· Full inclusion occurs when students with a disability receive all instruction and support within the general education classroom
· Partial inclusion occurs when students with a disability receive most instruction within the general education classroom but are “pulled out” for specialized services part of the school day.
Describe the characteristics of evidence-based inclusive schools.
Evidence-based inclusive schools
· promote the values of diversity, acceptance, and belonging.
· ensure the availability of formal and natural supports within the general education setting.
· provide services and supports in age-appropriate classrooms in neighborhood schools.
· ensure access to the general curriculum while meeting the individualized needs of each student.
· provide a school-wide support system to meet the needs of all students.
Define multidisciplinary collaboration and identify its key characteristics.
· Collaboration is defined as professionals, parents, and students working together to achieve the mutual goal of delivering an effective educational program designed to meet individual needs. Collaboration is not what those involved do; it is how they do it.
· In an inclusive school, effective collaboration has several key characteristics:
· Parents are viewed as active partners in the education of their children.
· Team members share responsibility; individual roles are clearly understood and valued.
Chapter 3 Notes
Inclusion and Multidiscipline Collaboration In the Early Childhood and Elementary School Years
· Team members promote peer support and cooperative learning
Why is it so important to provide early intervention services as soon as possible to young children at risk?
· The first years of life are critical to the overall development of all children—normal, at-risk, and disabled.
· Early stimulation is crucial to the later development of language, intelligence, personality, and self-worth.
· Early intervention may prevent or reduce the overall impact of disabilities, as well as counteract the negative effects of delayed intervention.
· Early intervention may in the long run be less costly and more effective than providing services later in an individual’s life.
Identify the purposes of Part C of IDEA and the components of the individualized family service plan (IFSP).
· Part C of IDEA has several purposes, including:
· enhancing the development of infants and toddlers with dis-abilities to minimize their potential for developmental delay, and recognizing the significant brain development that occurs during a child’s first three years of life;
· reducing the educational costs to our society by minimizing the need for special education and related services when infants and toddlers with reach school age;
· maximizing the potential for individuals with disabilities to live independently in society;
· enhancing the capacity of families to meet the special needs of their infants and toddlers with disabilities; and
· enhancing the capacity of state and local agencies and service providers to identify, evaluate, and meet the needs of all children, particularly minority, low-income, inner-city, and rural children, and infants and toddlers in foster care.
The components of the individualized family service plan include
· the infant’s or toddler’s present levels of physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, and adaptive development;
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Chapter 3 Notes
Inclusion and Multidiscipline Collaboration In the Early Childhood and Elementary School Years
· family resources, priorities, and concerns related to enhancing the development of their child;
· major outcomes to be achieved for the infant or toddler and the family, and the criteria, procedures, and timelines used to determine progress toward achieving those outcomes;
· early intervention services necessary to meet the unique needs of the infant or toddler and the family; the natural environments in which early intervention services are to be provided; the projected dates for initiation of services and the anticipated duration of the services;
· identification of the service coordinator; and
· steps to be taken to support the transition of the toddler with a disability to preschool or other appropriate services.
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