This research is based on three case studies, each of which involved a critical examination of how early childhood centres responded to children with disabilities. The first case study involved gathering information at seven full-day workshops undertaken at seven locations in the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The early childhood teachers, other professionals and parents who attended these workshops provided information on centre policies with regard to children with disabilities and on their own views about issues in this area. The second case study involved participant observation and interviews in a kindergarten across ten months. In this setting, I was actively involved in the daily programme, looking at how the kindergarten responded to Craig, a child with severe disabilities, and his family. The third case study involved participant observation and interviews in a childcare centre across ten months. In this setting, I looked at how the centre and its community included Peter, a child with Down Syndrome, and his family. In each of the case studies I was interested in understanding how children with disabilities may be included in early childhood settings and how some children with disabilities may experience exclusion from such centres. The data from the three studies were theorised from a social constructionist position that suggests that our understandings of the world are made evident in the way in which we name and talk about issues. Within this theoretical position, it is through discourse that knowledge and meaning about a phenomenon are formed and produced. Discourses function as a system of rules giving authority to what may be said and thought in relation to a particular subject. In the present case, the focal subject was disability. From the case studies it was evident that two particular discourses had significant and contrasting implications for policy and practice in early childhood education. A medical-model discourse that saw disability as a condition of an individual child in need of "special" education and treatment was related to children with disabilities experiencing discrimination and exclusion. A discourse of inclusion in which disability was viewed as part of a continuum of human experience was related to policy and practice that was focussed on the elimination of barriers, and to full participation in early childhood settings. The thesis suggests that removing barriers to participation is consistent with a social justice approach to disability that acknowledges the need for both redistributive justice through resource allocation, and respect for differences through justice as affirmative cultural recognition.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 100-108).

Abstract This paper is based on the study of a special education teacher who tutoring a particular child in a kindergarten, evaluating the effects of the case of its social abilities and cognitive abilities learning after a tutoring service. The study object is a heavy degree of retarded child with the age of five years and five months old. This paper is to apply the method of quality case study, starting from the evaluation of the basic ability of the case to involve in a four times of social abilities learning program and tutoring, for one year of period. It is to make an essential record in detail of the social abilities in the process of the cognitive abilities learning and performance, and to re-evaluate the result and its effects of the case situation after the itinerant teaching service. This study found : (A) A good improvement in the social abilities of the case, by means of the tutoring and a four-times social teaching program, especially of the interaction with its peer group , and also with a good progress in the adaptability to the environment, but not showing the eminent result in the interaction with adults. (B) A good improvement in the cognitive abilities learning, with the increasing of the time length in the concentration about the aspects of seeing, listening, and playing, a good progress in the cognition of self-conception, and basic skills of learning in writing, reading. The case has gradually developed a reading habit. As to the numeric conception and memory shows little progress, but not found in the improvement of the logic thinking.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 230-244). Also available online in Scholars' Bank; and in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-166). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Research paper (M.A.) -- Cardinal Stritch College -- Milwaukee, 1980. / A research paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education (Education of learning disabled children). Includes bibliographical references (33-38 p.).

Research has shown that many of the disciplines typically included on early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) teams receive minimal to no specialized training or coursework in EI/ECSE, and/or little emphasis or opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration and instruction (Campbell, Chiarello, Wilcox, & Milbourne, 2009; Bruder & Dunst, 2005). As such, graduate students across IDEA related disciplines need more specific instruction and supervised experiences in collaborative service delivery, and evidenced-based social- communication interventions. The primary objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Language and Play Everyday (LAPE) program as a model of cross-disciplinary training for graduate students in the Communication Disorders and Sciences (CDS) and Early Intervention/ Early Childhood Special Education (EIP) programs at the University of Oregon. Participants included four first-term graduate students (i.e., two from CDS; two from EIP) enrolled in the LAPE practicum during Fall 2016. Multiple outcome measures, including a pre-post competency/self-efficacy questionnaire as well as analysis of student-child interaction videos, were used to evaluate the degree to which students’ knowledge and use of child language development principles, language-enhancing strategies, and overall confidence changed throughout the 11-week practicum experience. Analysis of student-child interaction samples revealed that all students increased their use of language-enhancing strategies in group and/or individual play contexts directly following an initial LAPE training workshop, and again after an individualized coaching session. Pre-post competency and self-efficacy questionnaires indicated students made growth in both their overall confidence and knowledge of child language development and language-enhancing strategies across the 11-week practicum placement. Future recommendations include increasing opportunities for collaboration and sharing of discipline-related knowledge during training activities as well as providing continued opportunities for individualized coaching.

The current study used a quasi-experimental comparison group pre/post-test design to examine the effectiveness of the Language and Play Everyday (LAPE) program for improving EI/ECSE practitioners’ knowledge, use of, and confidence in using Caregiver Implemented-Naturalistic Communication Interventions (CI-NCIs). Participants included 20 EI/ECSE practitioners across IDEA-related disciplines, eight with prior LAPE experience. 10 practitioners took part in a new, more intensive LAPE program, and 10 did not. Analysis of pre/post-questionnaires revealed that practitioners with prior LAPE experience reported significantly higher use of CI-NCI skills and mean self-efficacy ratings than those without LAPE experience. Practitioners who participated in the new, more intensive program used significantly more skills and scored significantly better on a knowledge test than those who did not participate, even when controlling for prior LAPE experience. These findings indicate that the LAPE program is a promising model to train EI/ECSE practitioners across disciplines in CI-NCIs.

No description available.

No description available.