The following links may be of interest as you search the world wide web for information on inclusive child care and other related topics. Many of the sites listed below are good starting points for additional links. The descriptions come from the sites themselves and are not offered with any official Map to Inclusive Child Care or WestEd endorsement.
The first community app for parents and caregivers of children who learn and think differently. Wunder is the only place where parents can safely connect while being supported by a team of leading experts - all for free.
Autism Acceptance Month – a shift from the prior messaging of April as Autism Awareness Month reflects the importance of making space for all kinds of minds, including those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This article
Disruptions to our personal and professional lives, schedule changes, and school closings present unique challenges for individuals on the autism spectrum and their families. In these challenging times, we are sensitive to the needs of these individuals and their families. To help, we have compiled these resources aimed at reducing anxiety and restoring a sense of routine during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Resources include recorded webinars on a variety of topics, social stories and video aids.
Providing medical and functional information about a person with ASD to the local 911 dispatch center will enable a dispatcher to alert police, firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics so they could be more prepared when responding to an emergency.
Prevalence
It is not unusual for children with autism to become fearful and "meltdown" in the Emergency Department (ED) or in other places where they may be overstimulated and stressed. Here is one infographic that uses the acronym SCARED to help inform providers to remember some ways to support children with autism in everyday and disaster emergencies from pediatric ED (Emergency Department) colleagues Don't Forget The Bubbles (DFTB) from the United Kingdom.
SCARED Acronym:
Visit the @DFTB Team's Twitter feed for a large version of the SCARED Acronym Infographic
Over the past decade, many pediatricians have begun screening for autism during well-child checkups. As a result, many young children exhibiting early signs of autism are receiving referrals for appropriate assessment. Those children who eventually receive an autism diagnosis are often prescribed speech and behavior therapy, medical guidance, and other supports that can improve their quality of life and their prognosis. Research has shown that intervening as early as possible is associated with more positive outcomes than treatment later in life or not at all.
This web page explains what screening is, why it is important, common screening tools and ongoing assessment to determine the most effective treatment.
Sesame Street celebrates April Autism Acceptance Month with new resources on belonging and artistic expression.
Wearing masks, interacting on video chats, and adjusting to frequent changes in routines—all can be especially tough for children with autism. Here are resources to help children and families cope with the challenges of living in the time of COVID-19.
“After a late-night chance encounter with a DeafBlind man on a New York City street, writer/director Doug Roland wrote the award-winning short film, Feeling Through. Doug knew from the start he wanted to cast a DeafBlind actor to star, so he partnered with Helen Keller Services to realize that mission.” This Oscar-nominated, award-winning short film “has connected thousands of people in the DeafBlind, blind, and low-vision communities, and is connecting non-disabled people to the people and missions of those communities.”
“Get ready! Get Set! It's time to sing your favorite Sesame Street songs, now translated in ASL! ASL means American Sign Language. ASL translation and consultation by The National Theater of the Deaf.”
Teaching hearing children to sign is an extension of the types of nonverbal communication they already use to get your attention: facial expression, gesturing, making noise, crawling, toddling toward an object of desire, and more.
What Anne has done with Sing & Sign is nothing short of brilliant. She has joined current research with the wisdom of the ages. The book you are holding combines music, teaching signs, and play to create fun activities that unite adults and children. There could not be a more powerful combination to foster infant learning. Current research tells us that infants have surprising, adult-like capabilities in the way they perceive and attend to musical stimuli. Human beings of any age are rhythmic, social beings with an innate need to communicate and connect. Sing & Sign takes what nature dictates and creates activities that foster the developmental needs of children from 6 months to 5 years old. By pairing music with sign teaching, Anne provides a way to build in repetition and a meaningful context for learning a sign language vocabulary. Becky Bailey, Ph.D.
Rachel Shenton, Maisie Sly and Gilson Sly talk all things The Silent Child on Good Morning Britain. Meet the actors in The Silent Child including the writer and actress and the profoundly deaf child actress and her father.
NCDB is part of a network of projects for children and youth with deafblindness (birth through 21) that includes state deafblind projects in every state, as well as Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, the Pacific Basin, and the Virgin Islands. We are funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
Our primary mission is to support state deafblind projects as they assist educators, agencies, and organizations to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to help children with deafblindness learn, access the general education curriculum, and successfully transition to adult life.
If you have questions about this site or need assistance finding something, send a message to support@nationaldb.org.
USE OF "DEAFBLIND" VERSUS "DEAF-BLIND"
On October 1, 2023, NCDB changed its name from the National Center on Deaf-Blindness to the National Center on Deafblindness. The use of the term deafblindness, without a hyphen, is accepted usage in both the United States and Europe. It emphasizes that being deafblind is a unique condition and not simply the addition of deafness and blindness.
An important part of understanding and gaining practical skills for working with infants and toddlers who are deafblind is understanding parents’ perspectives.
In the short videos in this training module, you’ll hear from Kari Harbath and Madeline Cheney about what it is like to be the mother of a young child who is deafblind. Listen as they share their experiences during the critical years of early intervention and the teamwork that’s involved.
These modules are designed for practitioners who want to improve their knowledge of deafblindness and gain practical information they can put to use right away in the home or classroom.
User-Friendly Training
Modules in this series were designed to be easily incorporated into a wide variety of in-person or virtual training programs, courses, or events.
Each module includes more than two hours of training, divided into four 30-minute lessons. For ease of use, each lesson is presented in three short video sections and includes additional activities and resources.
Read an overview (PDF) of the series, module topics, and project plans.
Each fall, the Down Syndrome Resource Foundation (DSRF) releases a short film on a topic related to Down syndrome. In these films, we share the lived experiences of people with Down syndrome and their families, along with expertise from DSRF’s team of professional Down syndrome specialists.
CrossRoad: Where Down Syndrome Meets Autism (2023) features three families whose child has both Down syndrome and autism. The families open their lives to let us see both the joys and the challenges they experience as they navigate multiple disabilities. DSRF speech therapist Liv Meriano explains the similarities and differences between the two conditions, why it can be difficult to identify autism in a child who has Down syndrome, what to do if you suspect your child might have autism, and how to support a child with Down syndrome and autism.
Down Syndrome: Guidelines for Inclusive Education is the first document of its kind in the United States. The document addresses the education settings that support students with Down syndrome, covering the period from early intervention and primary education through secondary and through higher education, with the primary focus being K-12 students.
Download the publication after completing the informational form.
Down Syndrome: Guidelines for Inclusive Education is the first document of its kind in the United States. The document addresses the education settings that support students with Down syndrome, covering the period from early intervention and primary education through secondary and through higher education, with the primary focus being K-12 students.
These guidelines draw on recommendations developed by an expert working group of a United Kingdom All Party Parliamentary Group on Down Syndrome (APPGDS), first published by the APPG in 2012.1 The report is available at: https://go.dselink.net/appg-education-report.
The National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) and Down Syndrome Education International (DSEI) assembled a working group to adapt the APPGDS recommendations for the U.S. early intervention, preschool and school systems. The Guidelines Working Group includes several members of the NDSS Inclusive Education Task Force, a group of volunteers with a range of expertise and experience, dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with Down syndrome through the promotion of inclusive education.
We naturally think of a child's growth as height and weight, but from birth to 5 years, your child should reach milestones in how he plays, learns, speaks and acts. A delay in any of these areas could be a sign of a developmental problem, even autism. The good news is, the earlier it's recognized the more you can do to help your child reach her full potential.
Children with hearing loss, including individuals with a cochlear implant, can also benefit from exposure to music, both as an enjoyable activity and a means for improving their speech and language skills. This article describes various types of hearing loss, how music can benefit hearing loss, how parents can include music in speech therapy and at home music activities for children with speech and language delays.
