Literature Review
Kendall Powell
Liberty University
Abstract
This paper includes a reference list of literature relating to early intervention and children with special needs. In general, the literature seems to indicate that early intervention makes a impact on the success of children with disabilities when entering school. They perform to the abilities to that of their typically developing peers. Intervention programs are set up to help children and families. The articles research the affects of these programs on children with disabilities.
Introduction
The purpose of this review is to further understand early intervention and its role in special education. I wanted to study this topic because it is something I work with on a daily basis. The idea for my research came about during a staff meeting with the institute’s new president. As the president was asking questions and getting to know the staff and workings of the institute, the statement that the students who leave here are not as prepared for kindergarten when they leave here as they have been in the past. As a teacher this troubled me because isn’t the point of prekindergarten to prepare a child for kindergarten? If the typically developing peers aren’t prepared for kindergarten what does that mean for the students with disabilities? Are they farther behind or are they the ones being prepared to move forward in their education? With these questions in mind I wanted to see how an early intervention program helped children with disabilities when it comes time to go to school. What was the transition like? Did student still receive the same kinds of services they were receiving? Where there any drawbacks when they left the program and entered into school? How likely are these students to succeed and continued to make strides? Where they able to be included in the regular classroom for their entire day or where they in a classroom for students with special needs? I am very fortunate to work in a place that has early intervention and focuses on the services for children with special needs. We are constantly looking for new methods and ways to challenge children’s learning. We are lucky enough to have our own researchers and services right on site. There are many things I love about the institute such as, the number of staff per classroom, integrated therapy, the mix of typically developing and special needs peers. However, sometimes I wonder if all the new research and strategies is what is holding these children back? What is there that can come from all this? Special need children are just as important as the typically developing children. They should be given all the same opportunities because they have the ability to achieve like everyone else. As small as some achievements may seem it their world that achievement can be huge. The review will highlight four areas that address the topic at hand. Special education, early intervention, assessment, and academic outcomes. I believe these are four topics that cover the basics of my overall topic. Special Education What is special education and why is it important in today’s society? Special education is defined as the education of physically or mentally handicapped children whose needs cannot be met in an ordinary classroom. It is important because in the united states alone over six million children are receiving special education services. About half of those children’s services are funded by the state and other local services. Special education has come a long way in just thirty years. Before any laws were established it was not required that children with special needs services they needed or deserved. Since then several laws have been passed that have changed all that. IDEA is one of the biggest and most important laws passed in special education. The individuals with disabilities educational act provides appropriate education to children with special needs. This law has gone through several changes to best support the families and children with special needs. Early Intervention Early intervention is a system of services provided to children between birth and age three with developmental delays or disabilities. These services help these children learn basic skills that typically develop during the first three years of life. These services provide a variety of services, such as assistive technology, speech and language therapy, nursing services, occupational and physical therapy, as well as so much more. Not everyone is entitled to these services. Babies and toddlers with a delay or disability have to be evaluated in order to be eligible to receive services. These early intervention services are crucial for some of these children. Without any services they may be behind when they enter school. In many studies there have been positive reviews about early intervention programs. In Hurley’s study of priorities for inclusive early childhood settings, parents and professionals were interviewed on what they most valued about early intervention programs. Some of the responses for what was most valued were: the staff insured the children with disabilities were included in activities, high quality early learning program, program meets individualized needs of children, caring staff, just to name a few (Hurley 2010). Assessment Assessment is a valuable thing in the world of education. It allows a teacher to track the progress of his or her students. Assessment can be used in a variety of ways. Observations are a great way to look at what the child is doing. In early intervention and prekindergarten programs observations are used throughout the day to track the progress of the children. This allows a teacher to know whether the child is on the right track or if there might be some sort of delay. The major purpose of early intervention and education is improving skills, competencies, or adjustments for individual children and their families (McConnell 2000). In early intervention teachers are using assessment because they want to know if the intervention services are helping their students change. In special education and early intervention the law requires that the services be focused on measurable goals and objectives. It should be measured often, instead of annually like it has been in the past. These individualized goals and objectives are especially important in early intervention because of the varied characteristics of children who are eligible for services and the range of severity levels exhibited by infants and young children (Odom 2003). Academic Outcomes There have been several studies done on the outcomes of students who have gone through early intervention programs. One article that struck interest was an article on early head start. The study examined how children in the early head start program received services. The researchers followed the children and recorded the progress until the children exited the program. The research indicated that the program had a positive effect on on the rate at which parents referred there children for services (Wall 2005). Head start overall gave a positive outcome for the children they provided services to. In the article Factors affecting the transition to school for young children with disabilities, Schischka examines how children with disabilities transition into school after being in an early childhood center. The question driving the research was to see what the actual transition to school was like for these children. It examined how students, their parents, and teachers handled this transition. There were a total of seventeen children included in the study. In most cases the children were visited at their early learning center by their new teacher or vice versa they were allowed to make visits to their new school to see the environment and learn routines. For most of the students that took advantage of this opportunity the transition outcome was positive for them. Very few had issues in the classroom after the transition occurred that were not fixed by communication with the teacher. In all the author found that with help from parents and educators, the transition for children with disabilities could be a positive experience. The results of this research can be very useful in education. Any teacher could use this information if their were a child with disabilities coming into the classroom. So often teachers may not be prepared for the child but using the information from this research teachers could be prepared to handle whatever problems arise. In this particular article the research was based off of parent and teacher answers due to the nature of the students disabilities. Further research could include answers from the actual students to understand what the student went through and how they felt about the transition.
Conclusion
In conclusion, special education is important and growing more and more each day. Now that there has been legislation passed it has become easier for children with special needs to receive the services they need. Early intervention is growing and helping children with special needs achieve the outcomes to be prepared to enter the schools right where they need to be on their developmental level. Further research on the findings of the outcomes would be beneficial. So many finding focus the research on one particular program and not a variety of programs. The more programs included in research would show a more true outcome for these children and could lead to what teachers can do to help improve the teaching strategies being used.
References
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McConnell, S. R. Assessment in Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education: Building on the Past to Project Into Our Future. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. Spring2000; 20(1), 43.
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Schischka J, Rawlinson C, Hamilton R. Factors Affecting the Transition to School for Young Children with Disabilities. Australian Journal of Early Childhood. December 2012;37(4):15-23.
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Phillips, D. A., & Meloy, M.E. (2012). High- Quality School-Based Pre-K Can Boost Early Learning for Children With Special Needs. Exceptional Children, 78(4),471-490.
Barton, E. E., Schwartz, I. S., Strain, P. S. Providing Interventions for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: What We Still Need to Accomplish. Journal of Early Intervention. December 2011; 33(4).321-332.
The Usage and Perceived Outcomes of Early Intervention and Early Childhood Programs for Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. Winter2005; 25(4), 195-207.
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