Lesson 12: Emerging Issues & Contemporary Challenges in Early Childhood Special Education

Attention

View the Power Point, Fifty Years of Research on Children with Disabilities and their Families: From Changing Behaviors to Transforming Lives!

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to

  • Define "homelessness" and list (5) strategies teachers can use with children who are homeless.
  • Describe the four types of abuse and neglect.
  • Define assistive technology (AT) and list for types of AT.
  • Explain what a mandatory reporter is and what a mandatory reporter does.
  • Describe UDL and the three essential components.

Teaching

Did you know?

  • Poverty is probably one of the most significant factors placing children at risk for developmental delays and success in school.
  • A baby is born into poverty in the United Sates every thirty-four seconds or almost 2,600 infants on a daily basis.
  • Early childhood special education professionals (and all teachers) maintain high academic expectations of all the students they serve regardless of the child's economic background.

Homelessness also affects children and how they do in school. Homelessness is a lack of permanent housing resulting from a wide variety of reasons such as a lack of affordable housing, unemployment, and poverty. Forty-two percent of the approximately 1.6 million children who experience homelessness each year are under the age of six. On any given day in our country, it is estimated that over 200,000 children, or one out of forty-five youngsters, have no place to live (National Center on Family Homelessness, 2011a; 2011c). Many young children who are homeless often exhibit inattentiveness, frustration, aggression, and diminished academic achievement in addition to speech delays, short attention span, poor impulse control, withdrawal, and developmental delays.

Educational Rights of Children Who Are Homeless

The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (PL 100-77) – federal law focused on the educational needs of children who are homeless; intended to ensure that children who are homeless have access to a free and appropriate public education, including a preschool education. In November 1990, the original legislation was amended by PL 101-645, which significantly strengthened the rights of children who are homeless to a public education. The McKinney Act was reauthorized and amended again in 1994 via the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 (PL 103-382). The most recent amendments to the McKinney Act are incorporated in PL 107-110 (No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) as the McKinney–Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act.

The Role of Early Childhood Programs and Schools

Eddowes (1994) described schools as "safe harbors" for these children. Besides offering appropriate educational experiences, schools can also provide special services like bathing facilities, clean clothes, and nutritious meals.

Child Abuse and Neglect

Child abuse and neglect have reached epidemic proportions in the United States. As professionals, we have a legal and, perhaps more importantly, a moral obligation to attempt to break the cycle of abuse and neglect. One simple way of distinguishing between physical abuse and neglect is to view the former (physical abuse) act of commission, while the latter (neglect) implies an act of omission. The four major types of child maltreatment include

  • physical abuse
  • neglect
  • emotional abuse,
  • and sexual abuse

Physical abuse is an act of commission. It refers to an assault on a child, designed to cause physical injury or harm. Neglect, however, is an act of omission and involves a variety of caregiver behaviors that include such things as abandonment, inadequate physical supervision, failure to provide basic necessities (shelter, adequate nourishment, attention and affection, clothing), and the failure to provide necessary medical treatment or require a child to attend school. Emotional abuse is a difficult term to define and can be an act of commission or omission. It is generally distinguished by a constellation of interactions instigated by the caregiver and designed to be psychologically destructive for the child. Sexual abuse, which is an act of commission, contains two parts: sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. Sexual abuse includes rape, incest, indecent exposure, and inappropriate fondling, along with sexual exploitation via prostitution or pornography.

Prevalence

Each day in America five children die as a result of abuse or neglect while over 2,000 children are confirmed victims of abuse and neglect (Children's Defense Fund, 2011). An estimated 3.3 million referrals to child protective services alleging child maltreatment involving approximately 5.9 million children were recorded in fiscal year 2010 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011a).

Child Characteristics

  • Child abuse requires three elements: the perpetrator, the victim, and a precipitating crisis, like the loss of employment or severe health problems.
  • Research suggests that children with special needs are particularly vulnerable to abuse.
  • Figure 10-2 (pg. 294): A Model of the Interaction of Primary Factors Contributing to Parental Physical Child Abuse

Role for Schools and the Early Childhood Special Educator

Every state has child abuse reporting laws, and teachers are mandated reporters. They are legally required to report their suspicion of instances of abuse and neglect to the appropriate law enforcement agency or child protective service. The number for reporting suspected Child Abuse in Maine is: 1-800-452-1999, staffed 24 hours/day. Click here for the Mandated Reporter Training.

Assistive Technology & Children with Disabilities

The term assistive technology device means any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability. The term does not include a medical device that is surgically implanted, or the replacement of such device. The term assistive technology service means any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device.

What Are Assistive Technology Devices?

The primary purpose of assistive technology is to maximize an individual's ability in completing a task by minimizing barriers and unleashing potential to achieve desired outcomes. Basically, there are three categories of AT: (1) low tech, (2) mid tech, and (3) high tech.

  • Low-tech devices are those that incorporate low-cost materials and do not require batteries or electrical power.
  • Mid-tech devices are a bit more sophisticated and require an electrical source or are viewed as more complex to operate.
  • High-tech devices are more complicated and generally expensive to own and operate

Assistive Technology in the Classroom

When incorporating AT in your classroom, it is important to remember that it must be customized to meet the unique needs of each student; a "one size fits all" mindset is inappropriate. AT decision making framework known as SETT— Student, Environments, Tasks, and Tools. SETT is not an assessment protocol; it offers an outline for considering AT support.

Young Children with Special Needs and AT

AT should be an integral part of the daily activities and routines of young children with special needs. It offers today's students innumerable opportunities to be part of typical social and learning communities and to learn alongside typically developing peers. Universal Design for Learning, more commonly known by its acronym, UDL, allows the early childhood special educator to adapt curriculum, customize the delivery of instruction, and assess students in ways that permits them to demonstrate their mastery of the material. UDL assumes that there is no one method of presentation or expression that provides equal access for all children.Three essential qualities of UDL must be considered when developing curriculum for children with diverse learning needs—multiple means of representation, multiple means of engagement, and multiple means of expression.

Three Essential Qualities of Universal Design for Learning are

  • Multiple Means of Representation—The what of teaching and learning. Students are provided with a variety of ways to receive and interpret information.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement—The why of teaching and learning.
    • This principle considers different ways to motivate children, challenge them, and boost their interest in learning.
  • Multiple Means of Expression—The how of teaching and learning. This dimension accommodates the various ways that students may respond to the information they received.

Assessment

Lesson 12 Quiz

  1. Name and briefly explain five strategies teachers can use to help children who are homeless succeed in school.
  2. Name and briefly explain the four types of child abuse and neglect.
  3. What does mandated reporter mean, and who are mandatory reporters?
  4. Define assistive technology and list four types of assistive technology devices.
  5. Define Universal Design for Learning and briefly explain the three components of UDL.