Setting the Stage:
Including Children with Disabilities in Head Start
The purpose of our foundation training guide for early
childhood staff is to reinforce the effort necessary to include children
with disabilities and their families in all areas of the program. Currently,
this guide is being used nationwide for inservice training sessions and
supervision, workshops for state, regional, and national Association meetings,
and instructional material for community colleges. See "Ordering Information"
to find out how to get your copy.
The Guide At A Glance
This guide includes the following sections:
- Module 1: There's Room for All of Us helps participants identify
ways in which their own perceptions and experiences influence how they
interact with children with disabilities and their families, and how basic
principles and practices necessary for meaningfully including children
with disabilities apply to their own programs.
- Module 2: Communication Counts helps participants identify and
practice ways of communicating about disabilities that foster a sense of
belonging in children with disabilities and their families.
- Module 3: Making It Work! helps participants identify how the
principles underlying the laws and regulations that protect the rights
of individuals with disabilities apply to everyday practice, and identify
ways staff can provide the supports necessary to fully integrate children
with disabilities into their programs.
- Continuing Professional Development offers strategies that supervisors
can use to help staff apply new skills and extend their learning.
- Resources lists print and audiovisual materials and other resources
that staff can use to learn more about the key issues presented in the
guide.
Ordering Information
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*Photograph courtesy of the Institute
on Disability/University Affiliated Program at the University of New Hampshire