Inclusive Practice

• ‘I am not ashamed’: Disability advocates, experts implore you to stop saying ‘special needs’ USA Today | June 11, 2021
• Why 2021 is the year for inclusive learning Understood | Dec 2020

• Archived In the News!
  • Guy Whose Father Has Down Syndrome Shares What It Was Like Being Raised By Him, Says He Couldn’t Be More Proud Dec 2019 Sader Issa, who studies dentistry in Syria, shared the story of how he was raised by his dad Jad who has Down Syndrome. According to Jad’s son, his dad showered him with love and did the best that he could to make his childhood the same as any kid’s. Sader explained how his father is selfless and a real pillar of the community. Read the story and find out more about people with Down Syndrome as parents and the love of parents for their children with Down Syndrome.
  • Dear Class of 2019, Thanks for Including My Son with Down Syndrome June 10, 2019
  • How Some Schools Restrain Or Seclude Students: A Look At A Controversial Practice NPR, June 15, 2019Though there are guidelines around restraint and seclusion in schools, there are no federal laws governing how they can be used. And they're most often used on students with disabilities or special needs, and boys, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. This article discusses how these methods are used and how they are regulated.
  • Desperation And Broken Trust When Schools Restrain Students Or Lock Them In Rooms June 5, 2019Every time Jennifer Tidd's son was secluded or restrained at school, she received a letter from his teachers. Her son has autism and behavioral issues, and over three years — from 2013 to 2016 — Tidd got 437 of those letters.
  • When Students are Labeled “Too Much” Jun 2019
  • Four Pillars of a Meaningful Life Jun 2019
  • Students With Disabilities Deserve Inclusion. It's Also the Best Way to Teach May 7, 2019
  • Recess Can Be Hard On Those With ASD. Researchers Say It Doesn’t Have To Be May 1, 2019
  • What Happen's After College for Students with Down Syndrome? A Lot! Mar 2019
  • Officers calm autistic man by singing and dancing: What People Can Learn from this Story Feb 2019
  • Children with autism thrive in mainstream pre-schools Nov 2018
  • New Government Report Suggests 1 In 40 Kids Have Autism Nov 2018
  • My Kid with a Disability Deserves to Be in the Same Classroom with Your Kid, Because His Future Depends on It Oct 2018Shares recent research citing the academic benefits of inclusion.
  • Inclusive Education is a Plus for Children of All Abilities July 2018
  • Fearing Deportation, Immigrant Parents are Opting Out of Health Benefits for Kids July 2018
  • This woman is an exceptionally effective Capitol Hill lobbyist. She also has Down syndrome July 2018
  • How to be survive being Friends with a special needs parent July 2018
  • Little Lobbyists Help Save the Health Care Law, for Now Oct 2017
  • 10 Ways to Help Kids with Learning Differences That Could Benefit All Students September 2017
  • 7 Ways Friendships Are Great for Your Health June 2017Researchers who study friendship have uncovered many of its health benefits. 
  • It’s Time to Address Teacher Bias Against Special Education Students June 2017
  • The Subtle Brilliance of Sesame Street’s first episode starring an autistic Muppet April 2017
  • Poll Finds Widespread Use of Retard April 2017
  • Special Needs: He ain’t special, he’s my brother-Time to ditch the phrase “Special needs” Added: April 2017The phrase “special needs” is commonly used as a euphemism to refer to a person with a disability (particularly intellectual or cognitive disability and, more often than not, a child) or who otherwise functions in some way that is atypical. As a euphemism it is generally offensive to and condescending of people with disability.
  • Preschoolers don’t just learn in in inclusive settings, they thrive April 2017
  • ‘Speechless’ Just Schooled Everyone On Disability ‘Inspiration Porn’

Many critical decisions are made during an IEP meeting for a student with support needs, so effective and timely followup—with families, students, and other team members—is essential. Today’s post offers a checklist of to-do items to follow after the meeting is over. Excerpted and adapted from Equitable and Inclusive IEPs for Students with Complex Support Needs by Andrea L. Ruppar & Jennifer A. Kurth, these action items will help you follow up successfully, ensure there’s a plan for implementing the IEP, and start the team on a path to success.

See also 4 Barriers and Solutions to Family Participation in IEPs

Brooke’s Publishing is offering a new FREE early childhood resource that can help you keep track of your busy schedule and promote healthy development at the same time. The brand-new Growing Strong calendar is filled with 16 months—from September 2023 through December 2024—of colorful photos, memorable quotes from our authors, and practical tips and activities. Print one out for yourself, colleagues, and anyone who cares for young children, so they can help support key skills all year long!

“Inclusive school spaces are a physical, tangible reflection of the belief system that the school community holds. Classrooms, libraries, auditoriums, and playgrounds are responsive to the students’ interests and needs by using a multitude of ways to physically facilitate feelings of inclusion and belonging. Inclusive spaces also promote opportunities for cognitive, social, emotional, and physical growth and are designed with the diverse cultures and languages of students in mind.” Nicole Eredics

A much-needed book that provides the knowledge and guidance itinerant teachers need to integrate learning opportunities into daily routines and activities in order to support children's inclusion in community-based programs.

• Free Excerpt (PDF)
• Webinar: Supporting Early Childhood Inclusion through Professional Collaboration Two Heads are Better than One (Video) Brooks Publishing Coffee Chat | November 13, 2020 | Length: 1:02:46
  In this chat with William McInerney & Laurie Dinnebeil, co-authors of the book A Guide to Itinerant Early Childhood Special Education Services, these two experts on early childhood inclusive education provide an eye-opening discussion on how consultative models of service delivery can provide critical professional support—and make inclusion a success in your program.

The Inclusive Schools Network, in collaboration with Finding My Way Books and Changing Perspectives, is pleased to share Understanding Ourselves and Others: A Summer Guide to Inclusive Play. Designed for K-8 students, the guide provides parents, caregivers, camp counselors, and others with strategies and activities to build student confidence and encourage belonging during the summer months.

Although opportunities to develop the essential skills of empathy, self-awareness, confidence, and inclusion are present every day, the summer hiatus from school offers unique possibilities for students to travel, attend camps, connect with kids from other schools, and engage socially in more unstructured ways than during the scheduled academic year. It is a prime time to nurture our young people to become confident, inclusive changemakers for tomorrow.

This guide provides books, tools and activities that help parents and care providers facilitate interactions, empathy and inclusion between children with and without disabilities. It includes recommendations for children’s books that normalize disability and includes tools to help emphasize similarities between children and characters in books or in real life. Everyone who want to promote friendships and inclusion will find something useful and inspirational in this Guide.

Stepping away from preconceived notions about “typical” users through an inclusive design process allows designers to create digital products that are user-friendly to the widest range of people. This article helps you to understand the difference between “accessible design and inclusive design” and gives you a downloadable infographic that brings the explanation to life!

Inclusion is a legally-supported, evidence-based practice that continues to show positive outcomes for students with and without disabilities in schools. Where a child is educated is one of the most important educational decisions a team can make. Parents are an essential component of that team.

This 16 page guide provides an introduction to inclusion for families. Ideas presented here help parents to articulate a clear vision and work in collaboration with their school team to advocate for their child to successfully achieve meaningful inclusion. It explores questions that parents frequently have about inclusion and provides guidance for how parents can be an effective member of the IEP Team supporting inclusion. More resources on inclusion for parents can be found on the Inclusive Schooling website including a Checklist of Sample Supports, Aids and Services (PDF)

• Birth to 5: Help Me Thrive Initiative of the US Department of Health and Human ServicesThis initiative draws heavily on previous developmental and behavioral screening efforts by consolidating materials from a wide array of federal agencies and their non-federal partners. As part of this initiative, they have published a compendium of research-based developmental screening tools appropriate for use across a wide range of settings and tailored guides for use with the screening tools geared toward nine different audiences including early care and education providers, early intervention providers, home visitors and families. The guides address the importance of developmental and behavioral screening, how to talk to parents, where to go for help, and how to select the most appropriate screening tool for the population served as well as the provider implementing the screening.
• Tips for Early Care and Education Providers: Simple Concepts to Embed in Everyday Routines (PDF)Researchers from around the country offer helpful tips that you can practice to help the young children in your care grow and learn. The tips are based on concepts of learning and development that can be worked into everyday routines. Each tip describes a concept, why the concept is important, and a step-by-step description of how to put the concept into action. We hope these concepts are useful in supporting all the children in your care.
• Autism Awareness and Acceptance in Early Childhood EducationAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects about 1 in 68 children in the U.S. (CDC, 2014), with more children being identified than ever before. The early childhood community has a unique opportunity to touch the lives of these children and their families in ways that can make a real difference.

New guidance on Assistive Technology Devices and Services for Children With Disabilities Under the IDEA helps increase understanding of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s (IDEA’s) requirements for assistive technology (AT) devices and services. These resources from the Office of Educational Technology (OET) and the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) also dispel common AT misconceptions and provide examples of how to use AT devices and services for children with disabilities. Providing children with disabilities with the tools needed to succeed can help break down barriers and create a more inclusive and equitable educational system for all.

This short video produced in honor of World Down Syndrome Day brilliantly illustrates myths and stereotypes that can limit the potential of people with Down Syndrome and people with disabilities in general!

To learn more about this topic see the article by CBS News that describes the background behind the video: Viral Ad Challenges Perceptions of Down Syndrome (Video)

The second edition of this bestselling text shows early childhood teachers how to blend the best of special and general education, develop effective curricula, and improve outcomes for children with and without disabilities.

• 2014 Issue: California Collaborative on the Social & Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) (PDF)
• 2016 Issue: Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant (RTT-ELC) (PDF)

• Is Your Early Childhood Program Ready for Inclusion? Part 1 In First Steps to Preschool Inclusion, Sarika Gupta and contributors William Henninger & Megan Vinh include a practical planning tool for assessing 7 physical characteristics of your classroom. You can grab it below! While you’re filling it out, here are a few guiding questions (adapted from Gupta’s excellent book) you might consider for each area.
  • Assessing Physical Characteristics and Inclusion Readiness (PDF)
• Is Your Early Childhood Program Ready for Inclusion? Part 2 In First Steps to Preschool Inclusion, Sarika Gupta and her colleagues lay out the features of classrooms ready to support the social development of all children. The form below is an easy way to assess your classroom’s current social supports. The article introduces you to the self-assessment tool with some key questions to consider.
  • Assessing Social Characteristics and Inclusion Readiness (Program self-assessment) (PDF)
• Also from First Steps to Preschool Inclusion by Sarika Gupta and her colleagues is a free chapter on “How Children Benefit from Inclusion” (PDF)and an infographic, “First Steps to Preschool Inclusion, How it Helps and Where to Start” (PDF)

• Additional Resources from Brookes Publishing: The Inclusion Lab
  • Beyond Yes and No Tips on Helping Students with Severe Disabilities Expand Their Communication Skills, July 30, 2019
  • Is Your Early Childhood Program Ready for Inclusion (Part 1-Physical Characteristics) June 16, 2019 This post which includes a handy printable form–will give you a starting point for gauging inclusion readiness by assessing your classroom’s physical characteristics.
  • Is Your Early Childhood Program Ready for Inclusion (Part 2-Social Characteristics) June 18, 2019 This follow-up post to the June 16th post also includes a printable form and helps you to assess the social characteristics of your classroom
  • 7 Clarifying Questions for IEP Meetings (PDF) May 2019
  • Inclusion Beyond the Classroom May 2019
  • 10 Tip Sheets on Inclusive Education May 2019
  • 10 Steps to Starting Inclusion November 2018, Cheryl Jorgensen May 2019
  • 10 IEP Tip Sheets Dec 2018
  • 6 Ways to Create an Inclusive Culture Inside and Outside Your Classroom Dec 2018
  • Reading Readiness Calendar Dec 2018
  • 15 Tips on Supporting Emotional Regulation for Young Children with (and Without) Autism Sept 2018
  • Technology Tools for Students with Autism (PDF) Sept 2018
  • Is Your School Inclusive? Checklist (PDF) Sept 2018
  • Inclusive Education 2018-2019 Calendar (PDF) Sept 2018
  • Your Inclusion Transition Checklist: How to Support Students New to Inclusive Classrooms July 2018
  • Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! 4 Great Resources for Free Teacher Tips July 2018
  • edWeb Webinars: July 2018
    • Inclusion is More than Just Being In
    • What Every Educator Should Know About Special Education Law
  • Infographic: Preschool Inclusion: How it Help Where to Start Added: July 2018
  • 12 Key Practices for High-Quality Early Childhood Inclusion
    Taken from the Inclusive Practice Profile (ICP Manual)
  • Babbles to Books (PDF)
    (Free book with section supporting children with disabilities)
  • 2018 Social and Emotional Calendar
  • Laying the Groundwork for Inclusion (PDF)
  • Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP) WebinarDr. Elena Soukakou, author of the ICP, explains how the ICP measures the quality of inclusive practices in early childhood settings. It is a structured observation rating scale designed to assess the quality of daily classroom practice that supports developmental needs of children 2 to 5 years of age with disabilities in early childhood settings.
  • 2017-2018 Inclusion Heros Calendar
  • Taking Care of Them, Taking Care of You GuideGain tips, ideas and advice to help stressed-out teachers and students with the free “Taking Care of Them, Taking Care of You” strategies for student support and teacher self-care. For teachers, the guide includes ideas for practicing mindfulness, tips for conflict resolution, and ways to build a support network. For students, there are activities for reducing stress in the classroom and techniques for countering bullying.
  • 2017 Free Booklet: 10 Authors Share Strategies for Student Support and Teacher Self-Care
  • Top 10 Free Resources for Inclusive Schools Week
  • High Quality Preschool Inclusion: A few basics to help you get started
  • Differentiated Instruction Tips
  • Growing Strong 2017 Calendar Supporting Social and Emotional Development
  • Fair Is Not Always Equal Poster
  • Inclusion Success Story
  • Ten Tips On Creating an Effective Inclusion Team
  • Inclusion Resolutions: 10 Things to Do to Include All Students in the New Year
  • Best Inclusion Resources
  • 7 Key Features of Quality Inclusion (PDF) Infographic developed from the Preschool Inclusion Toolbox
  • Eight Ways to Make Your Small Group Activities More Inclusive
  • UDL Resources
  • 6 Things Your Students with Disabilities Want You to Do –Poster
  • 5 Types of Adaptations for your Inclusive Classroom

Expanded with timely new content and consistent with DEC Recommended Practices, the third edition of this bestselling book will fully prepare a new generation of early childhood educators to teach and include every child. Like the groundbreaking previous editions, this updated Building Blocks guide gives pre‐ and inservice teachers three types of practical, evidence‐based inclusion strategies: curriculum modifications, embedded learning opportunities, and child‐focused instructional strategies.

• View this handout for a quick peek at what's new (PDF)

Incorporating a child’s favorite toy into a classroom area or activity is a simple but effective way to boost engagement in early learning environments. Adapted from Building Blocks for Teaching Preschoolers with Special Needs, this free download features six quick modification tips that can help make your early ed classroom more inclusive for all young learners.

Inclusive child care seeks the full integration of children with disabilities into the child care and pre-school setting. Accomplishing this goal requires the use of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles as well as working closely with families. The BICC Universal Design for Learning video and accompanying checklist is funded by the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council and administered by Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

• UDL Resources provides link to Universal Design for Learning Video and Checklist.
• Inclusion FAQ

• Cara’s Kit Mini Posters (PDF)There are literally thousands of possible adaptations. Think of the adaptations in CARA’s Kit as a starting point. This tool provides you with two resources you may use when finding adaptations. These are:
  • General adaptations: These adaptations may be implemented throughout the classroom on a regular basis.
  • Adaptations specific to classroom learning areas: Adaptations are provided for the following learning areas: language and literacy; arts and creative expression; science and nature; water and sand; math and manipulatives; dramatic play; block play; music; and active learning and movement. In each case, the adaptations are presented as a mini-poster you can hang in the particular classroom area. In both resources, adaptations are organized according to CARA’s Adaptation Continuum, from least intrusive to most intrusive.

To make sure all toddlers in your early childhood program are participating, learning, and thriving, you need to master the art of choosing and using effective adaptations. Practical solutions are in CARA's Kit: a guidebook and CD-ROM brimming with step-by-step ideas for adapting environments, activities, and materials for children 18 to 36 months.

A follow-up to the bestselling CARA's Kit for Preschoolers, this real-world guide to successful adaptations is aligned with recommended practices in early childhood special education and early intervention.

Access this learning module to explore each topic of CARA’s Kit, from the introduction to the process to example adaptations.

NOTE: The module at this link is FREE. If you would like a PD certificate of completion for the module ($10 per certificate), please start here instead.

About CARA’s Kit: CARA’s Kit, created by Philippa H. Campbell & Suzanne A. Milbourne and published in 2007, is designed for teachers and consultants who are involved in providing early care and education for children under age 6. CARA’s kit contains information on how to make adaptations for individuals or groups of children who are experiencing challenges during everyday routines and activities.

CARA’s Kit Materials to accompany the online module are available here: Order the CARA’s Kit publication here.

CARA’s Kit online was developed by Pennsylvania Early Intervention Technical Assistance with funding from the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning. CARA’s Kit online is hosted by the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children.

”Welcome to Disability Pride Month! Celebrated in July to commemorate the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law in July, 1990, it's a time to celebrate people with disabilities which is roughly 15% of the world’s population and 1 in 4 Americans. Not every disability is visible or obvious and anyone of any age can be disabled.”

“Maybe you yourself are disabled and want to finally see yourself in the books you read; maybe someone you love is disabled and you want to learn more to meet them where they are; maybe you’ve realized that you’ve never read a book by a disabled author and want to change that; or maybe you just want a book that reflects the diversity of the world around you. This booklist spans all age groups, genres, and formats, from children’s picture books and teen novels to adult poetry, nonfiction, memoirs, and more.”

• Spanish Practice Guides for Use with Parents
  Parents who speak Spanish may use these products to provide their infants, toddlers, or preschoolers with fun and exciting literacy learning experiences. Practitioners working with parents who speak Spanish may also find these helpful.
• CELL Videos
  CELL videos are designed for the teacher, parent, trainer, coach and home visitor. Each video introduces and illustrates a key component of the CELL Early Literacy Learning Model.

• Bullying in Preschool – Tip Sheet (PDF) October 2018Being bullied means to be exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more students. It may also include an imbalance of power. And research indicates that a child with a disability is more likely to be physically or verbally bullied than his typically developing peers. This tip sheet includes signs of bullying behavior and strategies for extinguishing bullying.
• Resources to support transitions Oct 2018
• Tip Sheet: The Use of Visual Supports in Early Care and Education Oct 2018

• Additional Resources from CICC
  • 10 minute Podcasts on Use of Visual Supports: One for preschoolers and one for Infants and Toddlers Oct 2018
  • Tip Sheet: Attachment in Early Care and Education (PDF)
  • Inclusion Matters PodcastsInclusion Matters is a new product of CICC in the form of podcasts about 10 minutes each on the full range of inclusion topics in an engaging, easy to listen to format. Podcasts are available for listening on the website and for download on itunes. CEU's are available for podcasts.
  • Inclusion: Embedded Learning and Universal Design Definitions and Strategies-Self Study Course
    Universal design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for additional adaptation or specialized design. This self-study will discuss the philosophy and strategies for universal design and embedded learning.

• Resources Especially for Child Care Providers and Preschools June 2017
• About Specific Disabilities June 2017
• Babies and Toddlers Oct 2017
• New to Disability?
• For Professionals New to Disability
• 10 Basic Steps in Special Education (age 3 to 21)

• Additional Resources from CPIR
  • Trauma Informed Resource Collection Dec 2018
  • Tools That Empower Spanish Speaking Families
  • Index to Resources in Spanish for English speakers and link to the index that is entirely in Spanish
  • A Resource Collection on Positive Behavior Supports, Functional Behavioral Assessment, and School Discipline Nov 2017Welcome to this collection of resources on positive behavior supports and discipline of children with disabilities. The collection has been developed by a team of Parent Centers, specifically for the Parent Center network to use in their work supporting and empowering parents and families of children with disabilities.
  • Rare Disorders: Disability Fact Sheet Published: June 2017Roughly 7,000 rare diseases/disorders have been identified as affecting the human race. Because they are rare, it can be a real challenge for a person to be accurately diagnosed. Finding effective treatments, especially medicine, can also be a challenge—and for the same reason. Rareness. If you have a rare disease, know someone who does, or work with people who might, here’s a core of resources we hope are helpful.
    • Organizations addressing rare disorders
    • Genetics and genetic disorders
    • The Human Genome project
    • Laws you may not have heard of
    • Orphan drugs
    • The undiagnosed condition
  • Parent Technical Assistance CentersParent centers work to improve educational outcomes for children and youth with all disabilities (emotional, learning, mental, and physical). There are ten parent centers in California.
  • Fact Sheet on the Rights of Immigrant Children
  • NICHCY's New Home Sept 2014September 30, 2014 was NICHCY's last day after more than 20 years of service. Happily, most of NICHCY's resources will stay in their new home at the Center for Parent Information and Resources.
  • Developing culturally Responsive Approaches to Serving Diverse Populations: A Resource Guide for Community-Based Organizations Mar 2017This 30-page resource guide, produced by the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families, identifies easily accessible resources on cultural competency that CBOs can use to become more responsive to the needs of their targeted populations, and to help attract funds to support their important work. 

• Curriculum on Inclusion: Practical Strategies for Early Childhood Programs (PDF)Comprehensive curriculum focusing on the practical knowledge and skills necessary for child care providers and other early childhood professionals to successfully practice inclusion. Includes twelve illustrated chapters as well as checklists, action plans, self-assessments, and posters.
• Inclusion Tip Sheet IndexDownloadable tip sheets on a variety of topics.

It’s important for children to feel represented in the books they read. It’s also important for books to expose children to the beautiful diversity of our world.

This includes the varying abilities and disabilities around the globe. To promote inclusivity and representation, we’ve rounded up 53 books featuring characters with disabilities.

In these books, either the main character or a secondary character has a disability. Many of the books feature disability as the main storyline, but it’s not central to the plot in others.

We were asked to write this book as a way to share our knowledge regarding the work we do that focuses on educating programs to build equitable environments for all students, families, and educators. As the preschool population becomes more diverse, educational organizations must address the embedded, historically inequitable practices and policies to meet the needs of the inevitable diversity in every community in the United States. There is diversity of thought, diversity of race/ethnicity, diversity of socioeconomics, diversity of sexuality and gender, diversity of religion, diversity of ability, diversity of age, and diversity of experiences. Each of these diverse identities has been, and continues to be, part of early learning environments. Therefore, it is imperative to do this work and to start or continue the conversations regarding transforming early childhood environments to be inclusive for all. Overall, the information in this book will provide a how-to model filled with reflection questions, activities, and resources, with the overarching theme of DEIAB.

Read an Excerpt (PDF)

Read this blog: Can’t We Just Keep Things Like They Are? 4 Equity Myths in Early Childhood

In their new book Coaching for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging in Early Childhood, Anni K. Reinking and Laycee Thigpen address some of these myths that persist when discussing equity-focused work. Excerpted and lightly adapted from the book, today’s post is a good starting point for vital conversations around inequitable practices and policies.

• CONNECT Modules available in English and Spanish As of 2018
• Online Courses on Inclusion for CEUs
  "Foundations of Inclusion" module is free all other course are priced at $30 per participant."

• Visuals Engine: Create Visual Supports for Your Child
• Kids: Topics to support inclusion
• Adapt and Accommodate
• Supported Inclusion (Customized recommendations for support based on a specific child's needs)

• Recommended Practice Checklists and Video Illustrations for Transition, Leadership, Teaming and Collaboration and Assessment
• Videos about the Recommended Practices (Video)
  DEC (Division for Early Childhood ) offers a series of short videos to explain the DEC Recommended Practices 2014. The series includes an Overview and a video on how to "Share the Knowledge with Families".

Differentiated instruction allows us to tailor our teaching to the needs of individual students. Is it possible to offer very young children differentiated learning contexts and challenges? Does it involve too much extra planning, materials, or space?

From my experience, it’s not only possible but absolutely necessary to give these young students the chance to enjoy the learning experience fully. We need to offer learning contexts, tasks, and activities that carry the appropriate challenge and involve the child’s interests. We must also set reachable skills development goals, so that every child can participate in the learning experience feeling self-assured.

This article tells you how to get started and provides two examples of differentiated instruction in action.

• Your #1 Resource for People First Language

• Resources within ReasonResources Within Reason is a bi-monthly, one-way listserv. Each issue focuses on a topic of interest to individuals who support young children and their families, with emphasis on children with or at risk for disabilities. All featured resources are free. The content of Resources within Reason is coordinated by Camille Catlett. The listserv is supported by DEC. All or part of Resources within Reason may be freely shared or copied.
• Recommended Practices: A Comprehensive Guide for Practical Application in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special EducationA DEC initiative that bridges the gap between research and practice, offering guidance to parents and professionals who work with young children who have or are at risk for developmental delays or disabilities.

• National Early Childhood Inclusion Indicators Initiative May 2019 The initiative is co-led by the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center and the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI) and includes partners from across the early care and education system. ECTA Center is leading the development of the state and local program leadership indicators and the NCPMI is leading the development of the classroom indicators. Santa Clara County Office of Education is one of the stakeholders.
• Your Child’s Move from Preschool Special Education to Kindergarten (PDF)
• Local District Preschool Inclusion Self-Assessment (PDF) Feb 2018

• Additional Resources from Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center
  • State Early Childhood Inclusion Self-Assessment (PDF) July 2017
  • Pennsylvania Preschool Inclusion Self-Evaluation Tool
  • ECTA Center for Families to help families understand their right under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), connect with other families and find high quality resources related to caring for infants, toddlers and young children with disabilities.
  • Recursos en Español (Resources in Spanish)
  • Inclusion in Least Restrictive EnvironmentsDesigned for the administrators of state agencies responsible for services to young children and their families, including child care, Head Start, education, and early intervention. It has compiled information for administrators who are challenged with developing policies and programs that lead to inclusive comprehensive and coordinated services for all young children, ages birth to 8 years, and their families.
    • Preschool Inclusion Finance Toolkit 2017 (PDF)
      An update of ECTA Center's resource that addresses updated guidance in the Dear Colleague Letter on Preschool Least Restrictive Environments published earlier this year. Worksheets included in this toolkit:
      • Early Childhood Programs Comparison Worksheet (DOC)
      • Determining Costs Inclusive Worksheet (DOC)
  • Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities (Part C of IDEA)Provides a listing by state of the websites of the organizations responsible for early intervention for babies with developmental disabilities
  • Developing High Quality Functional IFSP and IEP Goals –Training Package This training package has been developed collaboratively with staff from the ECTA Center and WRRC in response to the need expressed from state and local providers to have specific information and resources about developing Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) outcomes and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals. First introduced in September 2012, this revised training package includes: an introductory video; a set of six fully scripted PowerPoint presentations; handouts, activities and supplemental materials; and how states have used and adapted the materials.
  • Inclusion in Least Restrictive Environments
  • Position Statements on Inclusion from National Organizations
  • Research and Studies on Inclusion
    • Fact Sheets of Research on Preschool Inclusion (2014) (PDF)
    • Inclusion of Preschool children with disabilities : What we Know and Should be Doing (PDF)
  • Personnel Development for Inclusion
  • Recommended Practices
    The OSEP funded Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA) has launched a campaign to bring widespread awareness about the DEC Recommended Practices (RPs). The latest ECTA resources to support implementation of the RPs include Performance Checklists for practitioners as well as Practice Guides for Practitioners and Practice Guides for Families. These resources were highlighted on a recent national webinar which was recorded and can be accessed in aRPy's Corner of the ECTA web site.
  • ECTA Webinar Series: Upcoming and Archived:
    • National Inclusion Webinar February 2016: Preschool Inclusion: What's the Evidence, What Gets in the Way, and What do High-Quality Programs Look Like?
    • Early Childhood Training Modules from the IRIS Center March - April 2016
      • Session 1: Dual Language Learners with Disabilities: Supporting Young Children in the Classroom
      • Session 2: Early Childhood Environments: Designing Effective Classrooms Module & Website Tour

The Early CHOICES inclusion initiative promotes increasing high quality inclusive early care and education for each and every child birth to age 5. Our goal is to increase the number of children with disabilities receiving specialized services in regular early care and education settings.

The Early CHOICES, Illinois Inclusion Initiative promotes increasing high quality inclusive early care and education for each and every child birth to age 5. Our goal is to increase the number of children with disabilities receiving specialized services in regular early care and education settings. The website holds free on demand training modules, Understanding Inclusion, for care providers and families. Find this and other resources in the links below.

Illinois Inclusion Brochure (PDF) provides an example of a framework of information on inclusion that would be helpful for famililies.

Created by Parents Helping Parents and the Inclusion Collaborative of Santa Clara County, CA through a grant.

The sample video, Early Learning Tool Kit: Visual Tools and Binder Materials, Parents Helping Parents (Video), provides information about the tools that may help the children in your preschool class who are visual learners, as well as the materials that are in the binder. These tools are all included in the Early Learning Tool Kit. If you have any questions about these tools, or if you are interested in finding out about additional tools and strategies that can help you create an inclusive preschool classroom, contact us at Parents Helping Parents- info@php.com, or (408)727-5775.

• Want to See Embedded Coaching? (Video)

This 12 episode series shares the experiences of practitioners and families from across the country, illustrating how the fields of early education and early childhood special education are successfully supporting preschoolers and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also see MAP Newsletter for 2020 related to supporting early care and learning during COVID-19.

• Additional Resources from Edutopia
  • Helping Students with Autism Transition Into a New School Year In this article a mother reflects on what helped her son with successful transitions to a new class and teacher. She provides common sense suggestions that can contribute to reducing stress and encouraging well-being for both the teacher and student.
  • Response to Intervention: Meeting Students at Their Learning AbilityMeyer Elementary uses RTI to provide targeted instruction and support to meet students at their learning ability.
  • Special Report: Overcoming Autism
  • Autism Peer Help (Video)
  • Enabling Dreams (Assistive Technology) (Video)
  • Introduction to Social-Emotional Learning (Video)
  • Fundraising and Grant Resources for Tech Integration
  • 5 Educational Resources for Parents and Families
  • Free tools and guidelines for Social-emotional learning in after school programs
  • Building Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students: Passion and Strengths
  • Simple Music Integration for Primary Classrooms
  • Empathy In the Classroom: Why Should I Care?
  • The Long Game: 4 Essentials for a Successful Mindfulness Program
  • Social Emotional Learning: A Schoolwide Approach Strategies like mindfulness, emotional regulation, and supportive small groups help Symonds meet the academic and social needs of their students.

  Family Engagement

  • Edutopia’s 2011 Home-to-School Connections GuideThis guide highlights solutions for connecting home and school in order to improve student learning and success. Whether you’re a teacher, parent, or district administrator, this guide provides you with relevant and valuable tools and resources for how best to strengthen the bonds between schools, families, and communities for student learning and success.
  • Mobile Devices for LearningThis guide can help you better understand how mobile gadgets -- cell phones, tablets, and smartphones -- can engage students and change their learning environment.
  • Cultivating Parent Engagement (Video)
  • Parent Engagement in Education Resource Round up

  Healthy Mind, Healthy Body

  • The New PE: Special Report: Students Learn That Active Bodies Lead to Active MindsAs research linking physical fitness to academic success continues to emerge teachers are coming up with creative ways to keep kids active during teaching time, instead of relying on recess and those ever-dwindling PE hours. Teachers say they find that using movement in the classroom doesn't just get the jitters out, but actually makes for better learning as well, because engaging students' bodies in turn activates their minds.
  • Move Your Body, Grow Your BrainIncorporating exercise and movement throughout the school day makes students less fidgety and more focused on learning. Improving on-task behavior and reducing classroom management challenges are among the most obvious benefits of adding physical activities to your teaching toolkit. As research continues to explore how exercise facilitates the brain's readiness and ability to learn and retain information, we recommend several strategies to use with students and to boost teachers' body and brain health. The article includes the following resources:
    • Brain BreaksPhysical activity ideas in the classroom from the Michigan Department of Education
  • Just Breathe: When Teachers Practice Mindfulness In this Edutopia blog by Elena Auguilar she introduces Meena Srinivasan's new book,Teach, Breathe, Learn: Mindfulness In and Out of the Classroom. She describes it as a resource that "speaks to a yearning I hear across our country: a desire to teach and work in a way that is anchored in joy, emerging from compassion, and that is more humane and slower than the way we work now." This easy-to-read book is a roadmap for this desire. She introduces a variety of mindfulness practices and then offers a wealth of resources for how to integrate these into our lives and classrooms.
  • Energy and Calm: Brain Breaks and Focused Attention Practices
  • Simple Music Integration for Primary ClassroomsThe blog describes five easy ways for primary teachers to integrate music into their classrooms. Each activity is specifically designed for individuals of all backgrounds and abilities, and none require musical training or experience. So why use music in your primary classroom? Well-designed music activities can deepen and reinforce knowledge and skill development across a wide range of subjects. Music is engaging, fun, and can motivate even the most detached students.
  • Empathy In the Classroom: Why Should I Care?
  • The Long Game: 4 Essentials for a Successful Mindfulness Program
  • Social Emotional Learning: A Schoolwide Approach Strategies like mindfulness, emotional regulation, and supportive small groups help Symonds meet the academic and social needs of their students.
  • Empathy In the Classroom: Why Should I Care?
  • The Long Game: 4 Essentials for a Successful Mindfulness Program
  • Social Emotional Learning: A Schoolwide Approach Strategies like mindfulness, emotional regulation, and supportive small groups help Symonds meet the academic and social needs of their students.
  • Resources on Mindfulness in Education
  • Positive Strategies to Avoid Stress, Anxiety and Burnout
  • 5 Simple Lessons for Social and Emotional Learning for Adults
  • How Emotions Affect Learning, Behaviors and RelationshipsBring lessons from the movie "Inside Out" into your classroom
  • Islands of Personality and Trains of Thought (Inside Out)

In this Q and A with Patricia Snyder, she describes embedded instruction and the education of children with disabilities along side their typically developing skills.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire)—In 2019, more than 716,000 preschool-age children received special education services. Yet only 38 percent received these services through the early childhood program they attended. Ivanhoe has details on an intervention that supports all children’s learning in their everyday activities and routines at school, at home, and in the community.

• Date: March 19, 2021
• Length: 54 minutes

The Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children is designed to promote the inclusion of children with disabilities within community programs. In states where there is a focus on increasing the use of high-quality inclusion practices, the implementation and scale-up of the Pyramid Model offers an effective approach. Join us for a webinar featuring new products and resources focused on increasing the use of inclusive practices in Pyramid Model programs to better support children diagnosed with disabilities or needing individualized supports. Learn about important research, statewide implementation potential and an assessment used to support inclusive practices in the classroom.

In partnership with the National Down Syndrome Society, the newest Barbie fashion doll was designed with purpose and inclusivity at the heart of every choice. With a shorter frame, rounder face, smaller features, and palms including a single line, this doll introduces a new sculpt and details illustrative of common characteristics of women with Down syndrome. Dressed in the colors and symbols of the community, she wears matching ankle foot orthotics, and a three-chevron necklace representing the three copies of the 21st chromosome. This results in the characteristics associated with Down syndrome – and represents “the lucky few” who have someone with Down syndrome in their life.

This video shares the positive responses of families and people with Down Syndrome to the new Barbie.

• Additional Resources from Frank Porter Graham
  Healthy Mind, Healthy Body

  • Resources Within ReasonCompiled by Camille Catlett and Erin E. Barton, this one page resource gives you easy access to the definition of inclusion, benefits of inclusion, research findings and access to essential examples of inclusion.
  • Mindfulness Helps Adults Overcome Childhood AdversityWith significant implications for early childhood education, new research reveals that a mindful disposition is associated with alleviating lasting physical and emotional effects of childhood adversity. A team of scientists from Temple University, UNC's Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG), Child Trends, and the Rockefeller University conducted the groundbreaking study—the first to examine relationships between childhood adversity, mindfulness, and adult health.
  • Teachers Play a Key Role in Program to Fight Childhood ObesityAn innovative physical activities guide developed at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) is helping North Carolina fight childhood obesity. New research shows that when teachers direct these physical activities, young children become more active and less sedentary. A sample of activities from the Be Active Kids Guide to Early Childhood Physical Activity is available for download.

  Inclusive Practice

  • Baby Talk Added: February 2017Resources to Support the People Who Work with Infants and Toddlers is a free newsletter by Camille Catlett, distributed monthly. Each issue features resources that are high quality and readily available at no cost.
    • The January 2017 issue
  • Resources Within Reason Added: February 2017Compiled by Camille Catlett and Erin E. Barton, this one page resource gives you easy access to the definition of inclusion, benefits of inclusion, research findings and access to essential examples of inclusion.
  • National Center on Early childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning (ECDTL) Webinar Series on High Quality Inclusion
    • Webinar #1 Partnerships for Inclusion
    • Webinar #2 Supporting Participation for All Children: Essential Features of High-quality Inclusion
    • Webinar #3 Partnerships for Inclusion: Supports that Ensure High-Quality Inclusion

  Training & Technical Assistance

  • More Than Baby Talk 10 Ways to Promote The Language and Communication Skills of Infants and Toddlers This brief guide describes ten practices that early childhood teachers can use to foster language and communication skills among infants and toddlers. The guidelines are based upon the latest research findings on optimal adult-child interactions for promoting strong language and communication skills among young children.
  • AFIRM Autism Focused Intervention Resources and Training Modules-How to use Visual Supports
    AFIRM Modules are designed to help you learn the step-by-step process of planning for, using, and monitoring an evidence-based-practices with learners with autism spectrum disorder from birth to 22 years of age. Supplemental materials and handouts are available for download.
  • Online Courses on Inclusion for CEUs
    "Foundations of Inclusion" module is free all other course are priced at $30 per participant.
  • Dual Language Learners: Strategies for Successful Opportunities in ECE- 2016 Free Training Module
    This free module provides an overview of the cognitive, social-emotional, and language development of dual language learners (DLLs) as well as examples of how early childhood professionals can support children. Through the content, videos, and reflection assignments, professionals will begin to identify ways to support DLLs in their own care settings.

“A collaboration with Lifehouse Agency, the Marin County Office of Education and Dominican University to bring the first inclusive Preschool to Marin County. Let's learn and play together to foster compassion, diversity, and leadership in the young child!” Video describes the benefits of inclusion for all children and shows ‘push in’ occupational therapy.

Hayward Unified School District has created a website focused on inclusive practices funded through their Inclusive Early Education Expansion Program (IEEEP) grant, and is designed to provide a "one-stop" resource for the Hayward birth to eight community, interested in supporting inclusive practice. It includes Professional Development resources listed by topic area. View the website at https://www.earlylearninginclusion.org/.

• Member of the class: Tips for teachers (PDF) Added: July 2018Membership is a key feature and a goal of true inclusion. Membership encompasses such terms as belonging, acceptance, and positive relationships with other members of the classroom community. Perhaps the best way to describe being a member of the class is when the child is described as “just one of the kids”. Find tips toward making this happen in this article.
• Inclusion videos
• Teacher Tools
• Classroom visuals and supports
• Embedded Learning Opportunities in English and Spanish

• Disability Information Guides
• Frequently Asked Questions: Infants and Toddlers
• Tip Sheets for Infants and Toddlers
• Mini-Suites: Infants and Toddlers
• Video: Infants and Toddlers

• Highly Individualized Teaching and Learning
  • Activity Matrix: Organizing Learning Throughout the Day Aug 2019 This in-service suite introduces the activity matrix as an effective tool for teachers to organize learning opportunities for children who need additional support during daily classroom activities and routines.
• Infographic: Young Children with Special Needs Oct 2018
  • Spanish Translation - Infographic: Young Children with Special Needs Aug 2019
• Special Quest Multimedia Training Library Oct 2018
• Resources for Supporting Individualization
• High Quality Inclusion Webinar Series

• Early Childhood Equity and Inclusion: Establishing Equitable Early Learning Environments May 2019 Fostering equitable access to learning is important in education as it enhances a sense of belonging and trust for children and their families. The learning environments created by early childhood educators can increase a child's ability to learn and feel comfortable as a member of the group. When children and families see their classroom as a space where they belong, equity is achieved. This newsletter provides a mini training module with a video and tip sheets on creating a caring community and key resources supporting equity and inclusion.
• Supporting Friendships Jan 2019 Friendships between peers are so important. Children learn new skills through social opportunities within natural environments. Education staff can build friendships between children by systematically teaching them ways to interact with each other.
• Preschool to Kindergarten Transitions for Children with Disabilities Oct 2018
• Infant /Toddler to Preschool Transitions for Children with Disabilities Aug 2018
• Supporting Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities or Suspected Delays and Their Families in the Home and in the Classroom July 2018

• Additional Resources from Disabilities Services Newsletters
  • Supporting Children Who Are Dual Language Learners (DLLs) with Disabilities or Suspected Delays June 2018
  • Using Assistive Technology to Support Children May 2018
  • Creating a Classroom Culture of Acceptance of Individual Differences March 2018
  • Classroom Collaborations to Support Inclusion Feb 2018
  • Supporting Peer Interactions Dec 2017
  • Adapting the Environment to Support Engagement Nov 2017

If you are new to the job, the Disability Services Coordinator Orientation Guide provides a foundation for your work. If you are seasoned, it can be used as a refresher course. You might be called an inclusion coordinator or disability/mental health coordinator. You may work under a support services manager, an education coordinator, or the program director. No matter your exact job title or your supervisor, you can learn from this guide.

Sections of the guide may be useful to other program staff, including program management, teachers, family advocates, and transportation and health specialists. Mental health consultants and school system staff also can find useful information. Some families may want to read about the processes involved and the service delivery for their children and for themselves. Your program's child care partners and other early childhood programs can use the guide, too.

For example, “Part II: Coordinated Services for Children with Disabilities and Their Families” is a roadmap of resources on inclusion on the Head Start ELKC website. You’ll find a framework for inclusion resources and additional guides to help you as a child care provider or family member who wants to understand inclusive services.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for increasing access to education environments and opportunities, including in infant and toddler settings. Learning environments, materials, and activities are planned ahead of time, with the aim of welcoming all learners.

UDL supports all children, including infants and toddlers with disabilities, to help them engage more fully in learning. It doesn't take the place of individualized curriculum modifications necessary for particular children. For more information on individualized curriculum modifications, see these helpful Curriculum Modifications resources.

The three guiding principles of UDL are:

• Representation — offering children a variety of ways to learn new skills and information
• Action and expression — allowing for flexibility in how infants and toddlers demonstrate success and understanding
• Engagement — building on infant/toddler development and interests and giving them choices

On this web page Head Start gives you a place to start for designing your environments with UDL in mind with their “Tips for Educators” and provides links to additional resources to support UDL for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

"After I learned about the practical nuts-and-bolts of inclusive education (what it looked like), I found that the biggest barrier wasn’t that people didn’t know how to include students with disabilities. They didn’t think there was a problem with how we are educating disabled students in the first place.

As we have seen with other systemic issues in the world, if you deny a problem exists, it is difficult to change the system that perpetuates it."

This insightful article describes 4 pre-requisites to including kids with disabilities in the general education classrooms. The first step is to recognize that the problem is how we think about disability. Exploring the difference between the social model of disability and the medical model of disability helps to lay out the issues.

An initiative of the Lien Foundation, How We Do School is a nine episode series of short films that explores how Finnish and British Columbia schools address the increasingly diverse learning needs of its students and what we can learn from them.

The Lien Foundation took two Singapore educators from the early childhood education and special education sectors – Dr Jacqueline Chung, Senior Principal and Academic Director at St James’ Church Kindergarten and Ms Tan Sze Wee, Executive Director at Rainbow Centre – to Finland and British Columbia to learn their journeys towards greater inclusivity and equity in its education system. By showing what is possible, we hope this can in turn inspire Singapore and inform ways that we can go about making inclusion more of a reality.

It’s true–getting “stuck” on a student’s challenges can make it tough to move forward with an effective IEP that meets his or her needs. Give this a try instead: flip those immobilizing “weakness statements” into specific strengths and needs statements that point the way toward solutions.

This graphic found in the link above gives you 5 great examples of what that sounds like. It was developed from Mary Falvey’s book Believe in my Child with Special Needs.

• Additional Resources from Inclusive Schooling
  • Self-Care September 2019 Educators know that September can be a challenging month. It’s the first of the school year, and with the excitement, it also brings anxiety, stress, and difficulties as teachers, students, and administrators adjust to the “new normal.” One of the best things educators can do during this time is to promote your own health, happiness, and well-being with a daily practice of self-love and self-care.
  • When Students are Labeled “Too Much” Aug 2019 When students are labeled as “too much,” the response is often exclusion. When classrooms prioritize control of students behaviours and bodies, the students exhibiting behaviours we consider “challenging” or “too much” are too often separated, segregated, secluded from the classroom community. When we prioritize control in this way, we neglect connection. We deny our students, and ourselves, the opportunity to show up as our true selves.
  • Free Articles by Julie Causton
    • Humanistic Behavior Supports
  • Strategies for Success: Creating Inclusive Classrooms that Work (PDF)
  • Webinar: 5 Steps for Creating More Inclusive Classrooms

What Does Inclusive Education Look Like? Dr. Julie Causton of Inclusive Schooling shows you with the new book and video, “Because of Oliver.”

“Ever have a hard time explaining what inclusive education looks like at the classroom level? This book does a beautiful job of showing the reader the beauty of inclusive education.”

“Follow Oliver as he experiences school before and after inclusion- and how his story impacts everyone around him.”

You can hear Oliver's story and watch the video here, and get your own copy of the book on Amazon here.

KIT stands for Kids Included Together, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was founded in San Diego, California in 1997. The mission of Kids Included Together is to support recreational, child development, and youth development programs that include children with and without disabilities. KIT's goals are to enrich the lives of all who participate and to increase understanding and acceptance of disabilities as a natural part of life. We invite you to explore our site and learn more about our work in San Diego County and across the nation.

• Summer Camp Means Fun for All: How to Create a More Inclusive Camp May 20, 2022Kids Included Together (KIT) says, “Pinpointing exactly what it means and looks like to be inclusive can be tough because creating a sense of belonging for each child will differ from person to person and camp to camp. But, that’s really what it is – creating a sense of belonging for each camper.” “So, where do you start and how do you know if you’ve gotten there? Well, providing a meaningful experience for every camper may look varied, but it will be rooted in a few universal principles.” This article provides helpful considerations to add to KIT’s inclusion checklist.

• Additional Resources from KIT
  • KIT: Top 5 Trends in Disability Inclusion 2018 Sept 2018Kids Included Together (KIT) is leading the field in disability inclusion and behavior support through work with over 450 organizations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Using research, media, and recent KIT data from 625 training sessions, 100 online courses, 325 onsite visits, and 1,752 support center calls, we have identified the top 5 trends in childhood disability inclusion. In 2018, we can exploit these trends to help increase meaningful inclusion of children with disabilities in schools and communities.
  • Inclusion Resources: Videos, Tip Sheets, Checklists, Guidebooks and Websites Sept 2018
  • Who We Are-Our Work: Publications Sept 2018
  • What is Inclusion? (PDF) Sept 2018

“Least restrictive environment, or LRE as it is more commonly called, is one of several vital components in the development of a child’s IEP and plays a critical role, influencing where a child spends his or her time at school, how services are provided, and the relationships the child develops within the school and community. Indeed, LRE is a foundational element in building an appropriate IEP that can improve outcomes for a child—in school and in life.”

This webpage walks you through the legal definition of LRE, how placement decisions are made and parents rights. It’s available in English and Spanish.

• Videos - AT for Communication
  See Maya Finds Her Voice, Video Story of a young child using AAC apps such as Proloquo2go and boards such as BoardMaker to communicate. Then visit Maya Nieder's family blog, Uncommon Sense to hear more about Maya and her family.
• Assistive Technology Supports
• AT Tips

This 21-page document goes through the history of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (including amendments to the law), a thorough explanation of the LRE, case law that supports inclusive placements, as well as calls-to-action for district and school leadership teams to transform their practices.

This free, teacher approved, award-winning app is for children with and without disabilities and their caregivers is in English and Spanish.

Join Leila Diaz as she guides young children and their families or other caregivers to explore the world of STEM both indoors and outdoors and create a storybook that details their investigation! As part of each of the 10 adventures, families and other caregivers are also able to learn about why the STEM concepts are important, what the children are learning, and also receive tips on how to guide children as they embark on the adventure together.

• Every Child Belongs: Welcoming a Child with a Disability May 2019
• 10 Things Every Parent Should Know About Play Oct 2018
• 12 Ways to Support Language Development for Infants and Toddlers
• Top 10 No Cost Toys for Infants Toddlers and Preschoolers
• Ideas for Bringing Humor to the ClassroomHumor reflects our joy. And for children and adults alike, it's a wonderful way of reducing stress. Humor helps put things in perspective. Encouraging children to see the humor in life is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. You will be enriching their spirit as well as making learning fun. You and the children can enjoy these activities together.

• Additional NAEYC Resources
  • The Word Gap: The Early Years Make a DifferenceA recent study shows that children's vocabulary skills are linked to their economic backgrounds. This article explain the study and give 9 recommendations for early care and education providers on how they can close "the word gap".
  • Position Statements including the DEC/NAEYC Joint Statement on Early Childhood Inclusion

  Cultural Competency & Family Engagement

  • The First Step for Addressing Bias is Infant and Toddler Programs, Young Children, November 2017
  • Moving Beyond Anti-Bias Activities: Supporting the Development of Anti-Bias Practices
  • Cultural CompetenceQuality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) Implementation
  • Engaging Diverse FamiliesEngaging Diverse Families (EDF) is helping early childhood education programs effectively engage diverse families. Our goal is to learn how excellent early childhood education programs are effectively engaging diverse families and to share what we learn with other programs struggling to start and sustain family engagement practices.
  • I Dream of the DayIsauro Michael Escamilla, M.A., an Early Childhood Education Teacher Researcher from the San Francisco Unified School District, spoke at the closing session of NAEYC's Institute for Professional Development in San Francisco this year. Here is a particularly moving excerpt.

  Healthy Mind, Health Body

  • The Word Gap: The Early Years Make a DifferenceA recent study shows that children's vocabulary skills are linked to their economic backgrounds. This article explain the study and give 9 recommendations for early care and education providers on how they can close "the word gap".
  • Position Statements including the DEC/NAEYC Joint Statement on Early Childhood Inclusion
  • Big Body Play: Why Boisterous, Vigorous, and Very Physical Play Is Essential to Children's Development and LearningA book on encouraging physical activity for children, by Frances M. Carlson.
  • Increasing Children's Physical Activity (PDF)
  • Our Collection of Children's Songs
    • 10 Ways Baby's Learn When We Sing to ThemListening skills, new words, and so much more
    • Playing with Music at HomeTips to explore music and connect it to children's learning

  Policy/Trends

  • Public Policy OverviewNAEYC promotes national, state and local public policies that support a system of well-financed, high quality early childhood education programs in a range of settings, including child care centers, family child care homes, and schools.

  Social-Emotional & Behavior

  • Promoting Social–Emotional Development: Helping Infants Learn About Feelings (PDF) Starting from birth, infants begin learning how to make sense of their world through interactions with caregivers. Responsive caregiving-which involves caregiver reflecting and validating a child’s feelings and behaviors-help very young children makes sense of their world. Over time, children who have this type of nurturing, reflective care better regulates their emotions.
  • 10 Tips for Raising a Compassionate ToddlerRecent research shows that infants and toddlers are far more empathetic than we once thought.  While they have short fuses, and don’t cope well with sharing, they are capable of being compassionate.  With this in mind, here are ten tips I use in the classroom to help infants and toddlers become pro-social that families can also try at home.
  • NAEYC RadioNAEYC and BAM Radio Network partnered to bring NAEYC Radio. The program was developed to bring the best and latest insights on early childhood education directly to parents and educators.
  • 10 tips for Raising a Compassionate Infant Toddler
  • Helping Infants Learn About Feelings (PDF)
  • Standing Together Against Suspension and Expulsion Joint Policy Statement (PDF)
    A group of more than 30 national organizations recently published a joint statement, Standing Together Against Suspension and Expulsion in Early Childhood: A Joint Statement (April 2016), which supports the recommendations from the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human services in their December 2014 Joint Policy Statement on Expulsion and Suspension. The organizations have also compiled a number of related resources to help states, districts, communities, and classrooms prevent, limit, and ultimately eliminate suspension and expulsion in early childhood education.
  • Caring Relationships: The Heart of Early Brain Development By Ron Lally and Peter Mangione

• Quick StartsOrganized by audience, each Quick Start offers brief answers to the most commonly asked questions about AEM along with links to additional resources for further information.
• Early Learning Resources

• Additional Resources from NPDCI
  • Early Childhood InclusionTwo major early childhood organizations, DEC and NAEYC, created a joint definition and position statement on early childhood inclusion through a process facilitated by the National Professional Development Center on Inclusion (NPDCI). Return here often to discover new resources and examples for using these resources to improve early childhood services.
  • Foundations of Transition VideoToday, most families of young children use and move between different types of early childhood services -- like Head Start, private child care, public preschool, or kindergarten. Moving between and among these various programs is often referred to as ’transition’.” This 8-minute video provides an overview of the desirable outcomes of transition, research identifying effective transition practices, as well as the legal requirements of early childhood transition (running time: 8 min. 19 sec.)
  • Speaking of Inclusion (Blog)Inclusion insights, stories and resources for professional development providers as well as practitioners, policy makers and parents. An informative blog brought to you by the National Professional Development Center on Inclusion. Your comments are invited.
  • Response to Intervention in Early Childhood (RTI-EC)The NPCDI facilitated a process with The Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC), the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the National Head Start Association (NHSA) to create a reliable source of information on the emerging practice of Response to Intervention in Early Childhood.
  • Quality Inclusive Practices: Resources and Landing PadsProvides brief descriptions and supporting references for evidence-based and promising practices that support early childhood inclusion.
  • Building Inclusive Child CareUniversal Design for Learning rom North Hampton Community College

Subscribe to this monthly newsletter from an expert in early childhood inclusion to get free resources on a variety of topics. Example topics include:

• May 2021: Free resources to support UDL (PDF)
• April 2021: Free Resources for Supporting Quality Inclusion (PDF)

• Fear and Inclusion

Access this learning module for PEAT’s Suite to explore and practice using environmental features, as well as universal, modified and specialized assistive tools.

NOTE: The module at this link is FREE. If you would like a PD certificate of completion for the module ($10 per certificate), please start here instead.

About PEAT’s Suite: PEAT’s Suite, created by Suzanne A. Milbourne and originally published in 2018, is a comprehensive package of materials that helps service providers (educators, home visitors, therapists, etc.), families, and other stakeholders support the participation of young children with differing abilities in typical routines and activities. The acronym PEAT stands for Physical Environment and Assistive Tools.

• See the article by Kathy Snow, The Case Against “Special Needs” for a discussion about how those terms have been used and why we might not want to use them in the futures.
• People First Language (PDF)That old "sticks and stones" saying is wrong: words are powerful and they can hurt! Other civil rights movements generated changes toward more respectful and accurate language and attitudes; the Disability Rights Movement is doing the same, beginning with People First Language. (This is the 4-page version, with examples.)
  • Español (Spanish) (PDF)
  • Português (Portugese) (PDF)
  • Русский язык (Russian) (PDF)

This position statement replaces the 2013 Frameworks for Response to Intervention in Early Childhood: Description and Implications.

The purpose of the revised statement is to define an early childhood multitiered system of support (MTSS) framework and to promote a broader understanding and discussion of the implications for young children, their families, and those who serve them.

The guidelines provided in this position statement are useful to programs seeking to implement the broad principles and elements of an MTSS framework. Specifically, programs can ensure that young children are being universally screened, authentically assessed, and differentially supported in ways that are developmentally appropriate and address their unique needs across both curricular and developmental outcomes.

1. Continuity of care
2. Culturally sensitive care
3. Inclusion
4. Individualized care
5. Primary care
6. Small groups

• Further documentation on the Quality Indicators of Inclusive Early Childhood Programs/Practices

A visionary call to action from inclusion experts Jenna Mancini Rufo and Julie Causton, Reimagining Special Education guides readers in creating more equitable schools and services, through practical strategies teachers can use right away and thought-provoking, big-picture questions for administrators to tackle. Readers will explore how inclusive educational practices can address each student’s unique needs as schools reopen and bridge learning gaps for students who struggle.

Read Chapter 1, Resetting School: Lessons Learned from COVID-19 Remote Instruction (free excerpt below). The author discusses the impact of COVID-19 on an already inequitable system and reviews the most effective practices that emerged, practices that benefit all students.

• Free Excerpt-Chapter 1

“Arm yourself with a summary of the research on inclusive education.” This 11 page brief prepared by Dr. Jenny Mancini Ruffo sites a base of research spanning over 40 years, comparison studies, research on students with complex support needs, and students without disabilities educated with children with disabilities. The research documents evidence supporting the clear benefits of inclusive education for children with and without disabilities.

“While inclusion is an important goal for many families and teachers and is a hallmark of a high-quality early learning program (DEC/NAEYC 2009; NAEYC 2020), effective implementation requires planning, intentionality, and collaboration.”

This article provides a succinct overview of inclusion for infants and toddlers. It explains why you should prioritize inclusion, describes the key features of inclusion (access, participation and support) and provides strategies in planning for inclusion.

This guide, created by Seattle Children’s PlayGarden with King County Public Health’s Best Start for Kids Initiative, is a very thoughtful, respectful tool kit intended to open hearts, minds and access to play grounds, sports, after school activities, summer camps, art programs and other recreational programs to children with disabilities. Readers are given an opportunity to reflect on what they’ve  experienced as they read the stories and strategies with questions following each section. Child care providers, preschool teachers, families and anyone who works with children will enjoy this tool kit. Start at the beginning! You don’t want to miss the orientation to the book or the introduction.

“In this toolkit you will not see a list of the “benefits of inclusion.” We are beyond having to justify what is a basic human right of all children: the right to play. Every child’s right to play is a fundamental human right as enshrined in article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (International Play Association, 2018). Instead, what you will find here are stories - stories from parents, youth service organizations, and from children themselves. Through these stories, we learn about the barriers to participation and what has worked to break down these barriers.”

• High Quality Early Learning Environment (HQELE)This comprehensive panoramic virtual tour emphasizes principles of a quality classroom design and incorporates key strategies on how to replicate highlighted elements. Early Childhood Special Education teachers, General Education teachers, and administrators are always looking to enhance their classroom environments to support all students. This tool provides the opportunity to gain valuable ideas to build upon existing philosophical and program practices, wherever a program or classroom may be on the Least Restrictive Environment continuum.

“As a person with a disability, I (Nikhil) have grown up surrounded by nondisabled figures in the media and in my daily life. As I get closer to reaching adulthood, I’ve become increasingly aware of the lack of representation of people like me who live with disability every day. While schools make accommodations to the physical environment and instructional approach to help students with disabilities learn and grow, the actual curriculum, the “what students learn,” is often silent about disability and the contributions of individuals with disabilities.”

“Because of the silence in our schools about disability, I’ve made it my mission to make the world a better place by increasing awareness about disability and shedding light on what it means to live the way I and other people with disabilities live.”

STEMIE (Innovations for Inclusion in Early Education) and Learning and Teaching with Learning Trajectories collaborated with early STEM incubators to develop and refine the learning trajectories for science, technology, engineering, and math. What is that? Visit the website, watch the video and learn more. Inclusion Facilitators will be interested in the Guide to Adaptations (PDF). It includes a framework for adaptations to the environment, materials and instruction.

At STEMIE, we use adaptations to ensure each and every child, including young children with disabilities can fully participate and engage in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning opportunities and experiences at home, in early childhood programs, and in the community. However, some young children may require additional instructional supports from adults and/or peers to successfully engage in STEM learning opportunities and experiences. For more information and strategies see STEMIE’s A Guide To Teaching Practices (PDF)

In this document, we define and describe evidence-based teaching strategies, as well as provide examples of each teaching strategy that adults may use to ensure young children with disabilities can participate fully in STEM learning experiences.

What are teaching strategies? Teaching strategies are practices used by adults (e.g., family members, practitioners) or, in some instances, by other children to help facilitate children’s participation in everyday routines, learning experiences, and activities. Using these strategies engages children in activities, maintains their interest, and provides opportunities for them to learn concepts and thinking skills that support STEM learning when using adaptations (see STEMIE’s A Guide to Adaptations for more information) is not a sufficient support.

Step Up AT coaches teachers, teacher assistants, teacher support specialists, school districts, and other agencies to adopt evidence-based assistive technology (AT) practices. This evidence-based, customizable program helps improve early literacy outcomes for young children (ages 3-5) who have disabilities. It is recommended by the federal Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA).

• Early Literacy Training Courses provide easy-to-understand AT basics for both veteran and novice early educators.
• Guided Learning at Home is a video series that helps families promote early literacy at home.

Additional videos are available on the Step Up AT YouTube Channel.

Supporting Inclusive Practices (SIP) Project, funded by the California Department of Education, supports LEAs in their inclusion efforts with their youngest learners, specifically students of color.  This innovative project includes working alongside sample site LEAs throughout California to collect classroom walkthrough data as evidence of best practices centered on culturally responsive pedagogy and universal design for learning. The website is full of great resources. See:

• Universal Prekindergarten Inclusion Resources For resources and best practices for preschool placement in the least restrictive environment, social-emotional learning, and equitable disciplinary practices.
• Supporting Inclusive Practices (SIP) Archived Virtual Events web page provides a wealth of recorded trainings, podcasts, webinars, and other resources including content on Universal Design for Learning, equity in special education, designing inclusive preschools, a paraeducator series, and more.
• Special EDge Newsletter is focused on supporting and informing parents, educators, service providers and policy makers on research informed and promising practices, state and federal laws and policies and successes and challenges of educational partners as they work to improve education for students with disabilities in California.

• Small Children Have Big Feelings Videos and tip sheets on social and emotional well-being to share with parents. Available in English and Spanish
• Sitio En Español (Site in Spanish)
• Videos
• Too Small to Fail and First 5 California Announce New Partnership to Improve Early Learning and Well-Being of California’s Children
• Tip Sheets in Spanish and English to Assist Families, Caregivers and Educators with STEM
• Strive for 5: Talk, Read and Sing Early Learning Boot Camp
  Is a free online weekly training program designed to give you instant tools and ideas to promote children’s language development and improve the quality of your early learning environment. The program is easy to use – everything is in one place, and you’ll have direct access to a great support system to ensure your success.

Our ability to smell, taste, hear, touch, and see plays an essential part in our everyday lives. These senses help us interpret thoughts and feelings about our surrounding environment and contribute to well-being. In the classroom, when students understand how to address each sense, they are more aware of what’s happening around them and within their body and mind.

The article describes 8 strategies to incorporate senses into the classroom and sites this article, Sensory Strategies to Support the Mental Health of Students with Special Education Needs (PDF), that explains universal strategies for sensory and movement activities can help promote learning and well-being for all students.

• 6 Benefits of Play
• Play Ideas (Developmental benefit and by Age)
• Parent’s Play Perspective
• For Teachers

• 3 Downloadable Posters Aug 2019
  1. 10 Reasons for Inclusive Schools
  2. Is It Inclusion?
  3. The Co-Teachers
• 10 Ways to Show Your Students that You Care May 2019
• 10 Things You Can Do to Make Your Class More Socially Inclusive May 2019
• 3 Big Misconceptions About Inclusion Learn how Universal Design for Learning and social and emotional supports provide a better learning environment for all children and how inclusion is a philosophy and social justice issue, not a “program”. Post includes videos and an infographic to demonstrate the concepts.
• 10 Reasons for Inclusive Schools
• The Inclusive Class PodcastA weekly podcast hosted by Nicole Eredics and Terri Mauro. This podcast features a virtual roundtable of notable experts in the field of inclusive education who come together to discuss the promise and practice of inclusion. Read more on the Podcast Series.

• Additional Resources from The Inclusive Class
  • 10 Easy Changes Teachers Can Make to Facilitate Inclusion
  • Is It Inclusion? Handy Chart From the Inclusive Class
  • Inclusion Articles for Teachers
  • 12 Inclusion Supports for Success Poster

Inclusion is clearly related to better outcomes for young children—but reports from the US Department of Education show the practice has grown by just 5% over the past 27 years. This is the how-to book preschool administrators, school district leaders, child care directors, and faculty need to step up the progress of early childhood inclusion through big-picture, systems-level change.

Shaped by feedback from a nationwide survey of IDEA Part B Preschool Coordinators and local school district leaders who shared their real-life inclusion challenges, this is your comprehensive toolbox of problem-solving tips, evidence-based practices, and practical checklists and handouts. You'll learn how to overcome the challenges to a high-quality inclusive preschool program, and you'll create a solid action plan for building and maintaining a successful program where all children learn and grow together.

This report describes the legal and scientific basis for an inclusive versus segregated education, summarizes national patterns for educating students with disabilities in general education classes, examines federal and state guidance, and state compliance with federal mandates, describes effective educational practices for reducing segregation, and provides findings and recommendations for improvement. It is part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Report Series (5 Report Briefs), National Council on Disability, February 7, 2018.

In this recording, Dr. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak discusses why presuming competence is necessary to address the diversity of the modern classroom, how our intentions can lead to ableist practices, why the dominant culture perpetuates ableist practices and exclusion vs. inclusion, and how to move away from a medical model.

• Think Inclusive Favorites on YouTube
• Five Secrets to Being a Special Education Teacher and Still Love Your Job

The Think Inclusive Podcast (presented by MCIE) exists to build bridges between families, educators, and disability rights advocates to create a shared understanding of inclusive education and what inclusion looks like in the real world. Check out these two sample podcasts:

• Janice Fialka and Sara Jo Soldovieri on What to Say When Families Think Segregated Special Education Classrooms are Best September 30, 2021
• Emily Ladau, How to Be an Ally to Disabled People September 16, 2021

“Unfortunately, children often experience a lack of empathy for their differences, both among their peers and among the adults in their lives. Empathy is a learned skill; it can, and should, be taught. These four children’s books about empathy are excellent ways to introduce empathy skills and an appreciation for everyone’s differences.”

My favorite of the recommendations is actually a set of three board books that feature gorgeous photographs of inclusive families and children of all types and abilities. “The Families book portrays LGBTQ+ families, grandparents, and families of many races. Hair celebrates all the various shapes and places and ways hair can be. On-the-Go, pictured here, is a powerful visual celebration of all the ways our bodies can move, and all the different apparatuses that can get us there. At only 14 pages each, and just the right size for tiny hands, these books are great for toddlers and preschool classrooms. On-the-Go can also be paired with this diverse abilities figure set to extend the visual normalization of disability through play. Teaching acceptance and empathy can begin at any age, and the best way to begin for babies and toddlers is through exposure.”

• Presented by: Early Choices
• Date: February 2021
• Language: Available in English and Spanish

The Understanding Inclusion series contains 6 topics that explore key ideas about inclusion in early childhood. The series covers a range of topics from defining inclusion to understanding the benefits to advocating for inclusion. This is a series of bite-size videos with embedded resources and activities to help understand, promote, and advocate for inclusion for children birth to age 5. Developed for families with family input, it is just as meaningful and useful for practitioners working with families who have children from birth to 5.

In each module topic, a topic guide is available for reflecting and applying what you learn to your own experience. The guide also has additional resources to explore the topic further.

We hope this series supports you on your journey of inclusion and provides you with resources that you can share and build upon.

• The Difference Between Tantrums and Sensory Meltdowns Mar 2019Many people think the words “tantrum” and “meltdown” mean the same thing. And they can look very similar when you see a child in the middle of having one. But for kids who have sensory processing issues or who lack self-control, a meltdown is very different from a tantrum. Knowing the differences can help you learn how to respond in a way that better supports your child.
• One Page Template To Help a Teacher Get to Know Your Child (PDF) Sept 2018
• Self-Awareness Worksheet for Kids (PDF) Sept 2018
• Five Benefits of Inclusion Classrooms July 2018

• Additional Resources from Understood
  • Five Examples of Universal Design for Learning in the Classroom July 2018
  • Personalized Learning: What You Need to Know July 2018
  • Strength-Based IEPs: What You Need to Know July 2018

• Additional Resources from Zero to Three
  Early Identification

  • Little Kids, Big Questions Parenting Podcast SeriesThis series addresses some of the most common (and challenging) issues facing parents of babies and toddlers, such as: helping a baby learn to sleep through the night; dealing with a picky eater; and learning to set limits on children’s behavior.
  • Building Strong Relationships with Parents

  Family Engagement

  • Podcast Series - Sharing the Care: How Partnering with Your Child’s Caregiver Supports Healthy DevelopmentIn addition to links to the podcast series, you'll find, "Caregiver Tips for Building Effective Relationships with Parents" on the same page under additional resources.

  Inclusive Practice

  • Beyond the Word Gap: Multimedia Resources and ToolsThe "Word Gap" has come to symbolize the gulf that can separate very young children who have rich opportunities for positive early learning experiences from those who do not. Science reveals that early language and literacy skills are important predictors of later success in school—and that as a group, children in families of lower socioeconomic means have fewer skills and know far fewer words than their more privileged peers. This new web portal holds apps, videos, curriculum, research and other resources to enrich early learning experiences for all children.
  • ZERO TO THREE has developed and released a new, free app called Let's Play!, which provides parents and grandparents with fun ideas for keeping babies and toddlers entertained and learning, especially during daily routines. Parents can search activities by age, share activities via social media, and tag their favorites.
    • Download the Let's Play! app on the iTunes Store
    • Download the Let's Play! app on the Google Play Store
  • Resources for Families: The "Missing" First Year

  Policy/Trends

  • Public Policy CenterA research based, nonpartisan program that brings the voices of babies and toddlers to public policy. They offer the opportunity to join the Public Policy Network and the e-newsletter, The Baby Monitor.

  Social-Emotional & Behavior

  • Challenging Behavior Resources
  • Early Childhood Mental HealthBabies and young children thrive when they are cared for by adults that are “crazy about them!” (Bronfenbrenner, 1976 1). Responsive relationships with consistent primary caregivers help build positive attachments that support healthy social-emotional development. These relationships form the foundation of mental health for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. This site directs you to resources supporting healthy social emotional development of very young children.
  • Baby Brain MapThe Brain Map was adapted in 2006 by ZERO TO THREE from BrainWonders, a collaborative project (1998-2001) between Boston University School of Medicine, Erikson Institute and ZERO TO THREE.
  • Cope After Exposure to a Traumatic Event

ABOUT DEMYSTIFYING DISABILITY
An approachable guide to being a thoughtful, informed ally to disabled people, with actionable steps for what to say and do (and what not to do) and how you can help make the world a more accessible, inclusive place.

Disabled people are the world’s largest minority, an estimated 15 percent of the global population. But many of us–disabled and non-disabled alike–don’t know how to act, what to say, or how to be an ally to the disability community. Demystifying Disability is a friendly handbook on important disability issues you need to know about, including:

• How to appreciate disability history and identity
• How to recognize and avoid ableism (discrimination toward disabled people)
• How to be mindful of good disability etiquette
• How to appropriately think, talk, and ask about disability
• How to ensure accessibility becomes your standard practice, from everyday communication to planning special events
• How to identify and speak up about disability stereotypes in media

Authored by celebrated disability rights advocate, speaker, and writer Emily Ladau, this practical, intersectional guide offers all readers a welcoming place to understand disability as part of the human experience.

In this film, Michelle Middleton takes a humorous look at people's reactions to her cerebral palsy. The 26-year-old has created the piece, with the help of Fixers, to encourage others not to treat her, or anyone else with a disability, differently.

• They Use Person First Language and Forget Our Humanity
  This Blog post is about disability language and autism. It is written by Amy Sequenzia, a nonverbal autistic (as she requests to be called).

• See the article by Kathy Snow, The Case Against “Special Needs” for a discussion about how those terms have been used and why we might not want to use them in the futures.
• People First Language (PDF)That old "sticks and stones" saying is wrong: words are powerful and they can hurt! Other civil rights movements generated changes toward more respectful and accurate language and attitudes; the Disability Rights Movement is doing the same, beginning with People First Language. (This is the 4-page version, with examples.)
  • Español (Spanish) (PDF)
  • Português (Portugese) (PDF)
  • Русский язык (Russian) (PDF)

This pamphlet is intended for early childhood care providers who want to learn more about how to promote neurodiversity in early childhood. This could include early interventionists, developmental specialists, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, behavior analysts, preschool teachers, and anyone else who provides services to young autistic children and children with developmental disabilities.

“Some say we shouldn’t worry about the words, just the way we treat people. But if you think about it, what you call people is how you treat people. If we change the words, maybe it’ll be the start of a new attitude towards people with intellectual disabilities. And they deserve it.”

In 2010, President Barack Obama signed “Rosa’s Law” which changed “mental retardation” to “intellectual disability” in US federal law. Inspired by nine year-old Rosa Marcellino, the law was a key component in the groundswell of advocacy efforts promoting inclusive, people first language for people with intellectual disabilities.

One such effort to end the hurtful use of the “R-word” is the “Spread the Word to End the Word” campaign, launched in 2009, inspiring over 1,000,000 people to sign the pledge to end the R-word. Ten years later, Spread the Word to End the Word is becoming Spread the Word: Inclusion, focusing beyond one word and creating a new reality of inclusion for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

• Spread the Word: Inclusion (Video) Published: Mar 2019 | Length: 4:06 mins

In this PowerPoint Mary Ann Shaw, full time faculty member at Saint Francis University, provides an engaging summary of what to say and what not to say when talking about individuals with disabilities.

Ableism is the favoring of able neurotypical people, and the exclusion and devaluation of people who are disabled and neurodivergent.

Ableism may not be intentional (in the same way that racism or sexism may not be intentional) but that doesn't mean it's not harmful.

Take the many media stories that often use words that communicate the underlying message we are a "burden" on society.

• Indicators of Quality Inclusion in Early Childhood Colorado Department of Education | February 2017The Indicators of Quality Inclusion in Early Childhood (IQI-EC) was developed through comprehensive review of early childhood inclusion research, the compilation of extant tools of early childhood quality inclusion, and with advisement from the Colorado Preschool Special Education Advisory Committee by Deb Schell-Frank, Wynette Howard and Sandra Link. A complete list of tools used in development of the IQI-EC can be found referenced in the endnotes. The contents of this resource were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
• State Early Childhood Inclusion Self-Assessment (PDF) July 28, 2018This self-assessment aids states in looking at the state level partnerships and policies that are needed to support inclusion throughout the state.
• Local District Preschool Inclusion Self-Assessment (PDF) February 1, 2018This self-assessment serves as a guide for local school districts in developing, implementing and supporting inclusive policies and practices.
• Pennsylvania Preschool Inclusion Self-Evaluation Tool (PDF) July 2013The purpose of this self-evaluation tool is to provide a framework for discussion that promotes partnerships to benefit young children with special needs and their families in preschool. It is organized within the broad categories of access, participation and support as described by the DEC/NAEYC Position Statement on Inclusion.
• Laying the Groundwork for Inclusion: Preschool Inclusion Self-Checklist (PDF) Sept 2018This excerpt from The Preschool Inclusion Tool Box provides an introduction to inclusion and a description of the seven research based elements of inclusion along with a self-checklist to assess your own program needs.
• 12 Key Practices for Early Childhood Inclusion (The Inclusive Classroom Profile) Sept 2018The 12 key inclusion practices are evidence-based practices from the Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP™) by Elena P. Soukakou, Ph.D. It’s a great tool for assessing your program’s current inclusive practices, establishing a baseline for measuring future progress, and guiding your program’s future quality improvement efforts. This blog post explains the 12 key practices and gives examples. It provides links to a webinar, a case study and excerpt, and more.

These four sets of indicators were designed by a group of national partners to support state leaders, local administrators, and front-line personnel in the early care and education system providing programs and services to children, ages birth through five and their families. They include:

• State Indicators
• Community Indicators
• Local Program Indicators
• Early Care and Education Environment Indicators

• Quality Indicators of Inclusive Schools: An Equity Approach to Teaching All Learners (PDF) Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education | October 2023This self-assessment tool is based on the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education (MCIE) framework for effective and inclusive education and is designed to assist school teams in determining the extent to which they are implementing practices that lead to all children and youth in the school community being valued members who have a sense of belonging, participate in social and academic activities in a meaningful way, and receive the services that they need to be successful. The items reflect evidence-based practices and are intended to be conducted through a team self-reflection process, with a facilitator guiding the questions and assisting the team in their discussion.
• Is Your School Inclusive? Checklist (K-12) (PDF) Sept 2018Paula Kluth offers a checklist for schools to examine indicators of inclusive philosophy and practice for K-12 schools. This article, Is Your School Inclusive? Is Your School Inclusive? provides a fuller explanation of the philosophy and the indicators.
• Inclusion Transition Checklist: How to Support Students New to Inclusive Classrooms Sept 2018This blog post, excerpted and adapted from inclusion expert Cheryl Jorgensen’s upcoming book, It’s More Than “Just Being In”, outlines the key steps you and the rest of your student’s team should take before, during, and after their transition to your classroom. This handy checklist is a good resource to bookmark and share with parents, other teachers, your principal, and additional support staff to make sure you’re all on the same page.
• KIT Inclusion Checklist for After School and Out of School Time Programs Sept 2018This checklist addresses 16 key elements that contribute to the success of inclusion of children and youth with disabilities in child care, after school and community programs.

Disability rights activist Emily Ladau, author of Demystifying Disability, an NPR and Booklist editors’ pick for 2021, argues that ableist language holds us back from not only having more productive conversations about Covid, but developing more effective policies to confront the pandemic.

Read on for her curated list of some of the most crucial journalism on how tangibly these oversights affect people whose lives have already been disproportionately upended by Covid, as well as tips for improving your understanding of ableism and the huge and diverse disability community.

The State Council on Developmental Disabilities (SCDD) is established by state and federal law as an independent state agency to ensure that people with developmental disabilities and their families receive the services and supports they need.

Consumers know best what supports and services they need to live independently and to actively participate in their communities. Through advocacy, capacity building and systemic change, SCDD works to achieve a consumer and family-based system of individualized services, supports, and other assistance.

The Back to School Resource Guide contains resources for families to support their child in getting the services they need at school. Educators, please share this resource with families!

Three core principles of child development include fostering responsive relationships, strengthening core life skills, and reducing sources of stress. Play is an effective way of supporting all three. With support from the LEGO Foundation, we created a series of handouts with playful, age-appropriate activities for children, from newborns to adolescents, that are easy to do at home or just about anywhere!

Interested in learning more about the importance of play? Check out this video!

"Did you know that the most important interactions you have with a child can happen through play? By engaging in playful serve and return with a child, you can literally help build stronger connections in the brain. Strong neural connections are the foundation for all of a child’s future learning, behavior, and health. In this Mini Parenting Master Class from UNICEF, Center on the Developing Child Director Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D., explains the importance of serve and return interactions like play—and how easy they are to do, especially through practice!”

• Play in Early Childhood: The Role of Play in Any Setting (Video) Sept 2019 | Length: 8:12 minutesThe science of child development points to three core principles that can guide what society needs to do to help children and families thrive. These include:
  • Supporting responsive relationships
  • Strengthening core life skills
  • Reducing sources of stress
  • Play in early childhood is an effective way of supporting all three of these principles. In this video, learn more about how play can foster children’s resilience to hardship, and how the complex interactions involved when children play help build their brains.
• Build my Brain Training Module Early experiences affect the architecture of the brain and determine long-term outcomes in health, learning, and behavior. With lessons on brain architecture and toxic stress, the “Build My Brain” course connects the science of early childhood development to work in early childhood education, public health, and social services. This three-lesson course, which includes scientific content from the Center on the Developing Child, is open to the public and is available through Cox Campus and Read Right from the Start, a program of the Rollins Center for Language & Literacy.

Welcome to the “Emotional Wellness Playbook”! You are about to discover a carefully curated collection of play-based activities that are designed to help kids develop emotional intelligence and learn to express their feelings in a healthy way — while having fun! Play is one of the best ways to teach kids just about anything, and expressing emotions is no exception. From learning to cope to building resilience and practicing empathy, learning to manage emotions helps little hearts grow bigger and stronger, building the foundation for a healthy adulthood. What’s more, play is an excellent tool to promote relaxation, encourage positive emotions, and provide moments of joy to offset and relieve life’s everyday stresses — for both kids and adults! Brought to you by The Genius of Play, the "Emotional Wellness Playbook" has been created in collaboration with Talia Filippelli, a recognized mental health expert, founder of Starr Therapy, and a Certified Holistic Health Coach. Every activity includes step-by-step instructions and a quick summary of the play benefits it provides. Depending on your child’s age, some activities may require adult help and supervision.

• What About Play? The Value of Investing in Children’s Play (Video) Length: 10 minsThis 10 minute video explores the value of play, playful inquiry and the role of adults in supporting, advocating for and investing in children’s play.
• Play is More Than Just Fun (Video) Published by Ted Talk, 2008 | Length: 26:31 minsA pioneer in research on play, Dr. Stuart Brown says humor, games, roughhousing, flirtation and fantasy are more than just fun. Plenty of play in childhood makes for happy, smart adults -- and keeping it up can make us smarter at any age.
• Overview of Play: Its Uses and Importance in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special EducationThis publication presents a review of the importance of paly in early intervention, early childhood special education and early childhood education and how play is regarded and used within these contexts.
• Supporting Outdoor Play for Infants and Toddlers (PDF)This technical assistance paper explores the benefits of outdoor time for infants and toddlers and provides suggestions for creating outdoor play spaces, safety considerations, and strategies and policies that support this important part of quality infant-toddler programming.
• Children, Free Play, & 60 Homemade Musical Instruments (Video) Length: 7:51 minsThis video shows a class of 4-5 year olds exploring 60 homemade musical instruments through free hands-on play. It’s loud, it’s amazingly education and it’s fun!

• Big Body Play – Free epub except Dec 2019As this chapter explains, play results in wonderful benefits across physical, social-emotional, and cognitive domains. It enhances problem-solving skills, creativity, and the ability to take another’s perspective; reduces misbehavior; enhances language skills; and improves cognitive performance and social-emotional capacities (e.g., Barros et al. 2009; Singer et al. 2006). This chapter describes some of the benefits—both those unique to big body play (especially its roughand-tumble forms) and those overlapping with the more generally acceptable forms of play such as sociodramatic.
• 10 Things Every Parent Should Know About Play

• Playtime helps kids discover joy of being active. Research shows that active kids are stronger learners.
• By playing together, children practice how to get along. Kindergarteners with stronger social and emotional skills have better life outcomes as adults.
• Research suggests that when we play, our brains develop creativity and flexibility.

Play is especially important in schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics (PDF) notes,"

“Recess serves as a necessary break from the rigors of concentrated, academic challenges in the classroom. But equally important is the fact that safe and well-supervised recess offers cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits that may not be fully appreciated when a decision is made to diminish it. Recess is unique from, and a complement to, physical education—not a substitute for it.”

At Playworks, we believe that every child deserves the opportunity to play, every day.

When you think of recess, do you remember laughing, playing, and having fun? Or do you remember sitting on the sidelines, getting in fights, and waiting for the bell? For many students, playtime is anything but playful.

• Children who feel excluded or who do not know the rules play less with their peers. They have fewer opportunities for physical activity and social development.
• Playground lessons are priceless, but kids need strategies for success. When play is too unsafe or when conflicts escalate, kids miss out on fun—and learning opportunities.
• Children play together outside school less than they once did. By learning games and having time to play at school, kids are able to explore creativity and leadership.

Playworks helps schools and youth organizations create a place on the playground for every child to feel included, be active, and build valuable social and emotional skills. Learn about what we do and our impact over the past two decades.

• 6 Benefits of Play
• Play Ideas (Developmental benefit and by Age)
• Parent’s Play Perspective
• For Teachers

This publication, part of the Best Practices for Planning Curriculum for Young Children series, discusses the critical role of play for children, particularly in early childhood. Play is an important context in which children learn, experiment with new ideas, and make sense of the world around them.

TKCalifornia is an online hub for finding easy-to-use resources for administrators, teachers, and parents as California expands Transitional Kindergarten (TK) to serve all 4-year-olds. Many educators over the years have called for a developmentally appropriate grade for our youngest learners—now with the expansion of TK, California is on the cusp of achieving the vision of the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care (MPELC), which called for a year of publicly-funded preschool for all children in California.

On this site, you can find:

• Resources for administrators to help them navigate staffing, facilities, funding, and more as TK is expanded to more children.
• Strategies and tools for teachers on classroom management and developmentally appropriate practices.
• Information for parents on what to expect in a TK classroom and how they can help their child get the most out of their TK experience.

The challenge that parents will encounter, and especially parents of young girls, is inadequate female representation in children’s books. The Minnesota Journal notes that girls are portrayed much less frequently than boys in children’s books, and often in gender-stereotypical terms; for example, many children’s books fall back on cliched portrayals of girls as nurturers, naifs, or damsels in distress; only boy characters are permitted to be valiant, bold, or fierce. Sadly, this is a long-gestating problem. The same article notes that, between 1900 and 2000, there was very little change to female representation in children’s books.

For parents seeking bedtime stories that center around the experience of girls, this blog post describes a few titles that are bound to inspire.

With COVID-19 still on the rise across the country and widespread vaccination still at least a few months away, medical experts are telling us that it may be a long, tough winter. Many parents—especially those with young children whose schools and programs are temporarily closed—are worried that their kids will miss key developmental and social-emotional milestones without the structure of regular teaching and socialization.

While we can’t pretend to have easy solutions to the pain, frustration, and uncertainty of this era, we can offer some simple, low- and no-cost suggestions for parents who are facing a winter of increased isolation with their families. If you need extra ideas for keeping young children busy and boosting their development at the same time, this post is for you. Share it with the families you know and keep it handy for those cold winter months, when the kids’ favorite refrain is “there’s nothing to do!”

All families have had to make tough decisions about their children’s educational setting as they are returning to school this fall. Not only have they had to consider their academic needs, but also their social and emotional well-being and their health and safety. For families of children with disabilities these are ongoing concerns, but in the past there were very limited options. One mom shared her perspective on how the pandemic expanded access to educational opportunities through remote learning for both of her children. Lori Ann Dotson posted this letter on her local education Facebook community page with the intent of broadening the discussion to include children with disabilities:

Thank you to Lori Ann Dotson, Ph.D., proud mother of daughter, Phin, seven years old, and her brother, Atticus, ten years old. She reported that responses to her Facebook post were invariably positive. Her post shifted the tenor of the conversation to be more empathetic to everyone involved in these challenging times in education during the pandemic.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, distance learning has been a challenge for many educators, families, and students. That includes the 1 in 5 students who learn differently.

Students who struggle academically or who typically get individual support in school are more likely to fall behind during distance learning, according to one survey. And research shows that students who also come from other underserved communities, including students of color and Emerging Bilinguals (also referred to as English language learners), have been particularly affected.

A new toolkit — developed in partnership with the National Center for Learning Disabilities — can help educators meet the needs of all students at this critical moment.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many of the longstanding inequities in our educational system. Black and Brown students, students living in poverty, and other historically underserved groups have been disproportionately harmed by the shift to online learning. To ensure that these students are not left behind, schools must focus on equity and respond flexibly to the individual needs of diverse student populations. Schools will need support for this work from every level of government. This checklist is a guide to ensure that schools providing online instruction are equitably serving students in the new school year.

The STEM Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education (STEMI²E²) Center aims to:

• Develop and enhance the knowledge base on engagement in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning opportunities for young children with disabilities (O-5);
• Implement high-quality technical assistance and professional development to increase engagement for young children with disabilities in STEM opportunities; and
• Engage partners and stakeholders from diverse disciplines and industry in work to increase the inclusion of young children with disabilities in early high-quality STEM learning experiences.

This 3 part animated video series presents the research supporting inclusion including the biggest barriers and how to overcome them, characteristics of high quality inclusion and the most important outcomes from inclusion.

Additional videos support professional development for providing  STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning opportunities for young children with disabilities (O-5).For more information visit: https://stemie.fpg.unc.edu

• Why Inclusion Video Series Part 1: Let’s Change Attitudes and Beliefs March 9, 2021 | Length: 2:12 mins
• Why Inclusion Video Series Part 2: Key Characteristic of High Quality Inclusive Education March 9, 2021 | Length: 4:54 mins
• Why Inclusion Video Series Part 3: Social Outcomes of Inclusion March 9, 2021 | Length: 1:50 mins