Early Childhood Special Education

Life is cruel to some of us who are born with some disabilities. If children with disabilities are exposed to early and comprehensive intervention programs through Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE), it boosts their development potential. Research and professional consensus helps in laying down the recommended practices in ECSE.

SIGNIFICANCE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD SPECIAL EDUCATION
Early Childhood Special Education helps special children by cultivating their other inborn skills. Let us discuss the ways in which these programs are implemented:

1- Inclusion:
A program which place children with disabilities into inclusive settings with their normal peers is known as Inclusion. For example preschool age children are placed in child care programs or regular community preschools. There is more to inclusion than just placing them in the same physical space. Such children should be given opportunities to interact with other people in order to be fully included.

2- Age Appropriate Placement:
A placement which is even better than Inclusion is the Age Appropriate Placement where disabled children are placed with their normal peers of the same or similar age. The child's mental age is not considered rather it is the chronological age according to which the placement is made.

3- Collaborative IEP/IFSP:
A team consisting of family members and other individuals that are involved in the child's educational program develop the child's IEP/IFSP in which a collaborative, transdisciplinary approach is used. The child is taken not just as a collection of developmental domains but as a whole person.

4- Functional Curriculum:
The unique needs of each child are addressed by developing a curriculum with the child's IEP/IFSP as a base. Curricular content that is preconceived is not required to be conformed to. The child's needs are kept in mind while designing the curriculum. During planning there should be a reason for the inclusion of a certain skill to be taught. Social and functional communication skills of a child are groomed through these intervention efforts.

5- Activity Based Instruction:
Specific skills of a special child with respect to normal preschool and functional activities are nourished with an activity based instruction. The child is made to practice these skills.

6- Data Based Instruction
The child's progress on IEP/IFSP objectives is required to be monitored as per Federal guidelines. In fact, the child progress data should be regularly analyzed and collected to optimize the efficacy of the intervention techniques. The analysis so made helps in generating learning program decisions based on exact info. Discreet data systems are used in natural settings throughout the day.

7- Transition Planning
A systematic planning process that helps the child in a preschool setting advance to the next educational environment is referred to as Transition planning. The related service personnel, the sending teacher, ECSE specialist and the future receiving teacher are involved in the transition planning process. The child's family nevertheless plays the biggest role. It is essential for the receiving program staff to coordinate with the intervention team in order to identify skills a child needs in the new setting.

8- School-Family Partnership
There should be regular communication between school and the concerned child's family thus allowing good planning and decision-making in every aspect of the child's program.