Providing Services to Young
Children with Disabilities
through Inclusive Child Care
Dubai International Rehabilitation
Forum
March 7, 2006
12:40-13:00
Session 3: Marketing of Special Needs
Projects
Topics
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Desired Goals of
Early Intervention
Rationale for Child
Care-based Services
Outcomes in the
U.S.
Barriers: Overall
Quality of Child Care
Necessary Resources
An Example of
Success
Early Intervention Goals
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to support families in achieving their own
goals for their children
to promote child engagement, independence,
and mastery
to promote development in key domains
to build and support children’s social
competence
to promote generalized use of skills
to provide and prepare for normalized life
experiences
to prevent the emergence of future problems
or disabilities
Child Care-based Early
Intervention Services
Natural context of services for children
and families
 Opportunities for physical, communication,
and social skill building
 With qualified teachers and aids,
opportunities for cognitive skill building as
well
 Reduction in services families need to go
to

Roots of Early Intervention in the
United States
Special Education
(Behavioral
analysis)
 Compensatory
Education (e.g.,
Head Start)
 Early Childhood
Education (DAP)

U.S. Principles of Early Intervention
 Family-centered services
 Normalization and services in natural
environments
 Variety of service delivery models
 Diversity of children and families served
 Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary service
models
 Functional and developmental programming
strategies
 Individualized programming
 Blending of philosophical perspectives
(developmental, behavioral,
ecological/functional)
Sherita
Students Meeting or Exceeding the Third Grade
Reading Standard, March 2001
75.10%
80%
69.10%
48.70%
60%
40%
20%
0%
All Students
Students with Disabilities Receiving EI
Students with Disabilities NOT Receiving EI
Students Meeting or Exceeding Fifth Grade
Reading Standards, March 2003
76.00%
73.10%
80%
60%
34.10%
40%
20%
0%
All Students
Students with Disabilities Receiving EI
Studnets with Disabilities Not Receiving EI
Necessary Components
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Low staff:child ratios;
small group sizes;
associate or bachelor level
trained teachers;
low turn-over;
well-educated directors
and administrators
Engaged, responsive
interactions between
teachers and children
Planned, purposeful, goaloriented activities that
emerge from children’s
interests, activities, and
backgrounds
Challenges to Child Care-based
Early Intervention
Skills and training of child care staff
 Turn-over of child care staff
 Resistance of staff and families of children
without disabilities
 Resistance of physicians and other
rehabilitation providers
 Wide variation in overall quality of child
care programs
 Lack of monitoring of child care program
quality

Quality Profile of Center-Based Programs
Serving 3 to 5-year-olds in Delaware
100%
80%
38.6%
N=64
26.5%
N=44
37.6%
N=62
40%
48.2%
N=80
42.4%
N=70
43.9%
N=72
45.5%
N=60
34.8%
N=57
42.4%
N=56
21.3%
N=35
12.1%
N=16
20.0%
N=33
20%
0%
59.4%
N=98
47.9%
N=79
60%
42.8%
N=71
9.7%
N=16
13.3%
N=22
Space and
Furnishings
(N=165)
30.7%
N=51
Personal
Care
Routines
(N=166)
20.0%
N=33
Language
and
Reasoning
(N=165)
42.4%
N=70
Activities
(N=165)
20.6%
N=34
Interaction
(N=165)
Program
Structure
(N=164)
Parents and
Staff
(N=132)
Figure Legend
= rating of “poor”
= rating of “mediocre”
= rating of “good”
Quality Profile of Center-Based Programs
Serving Infants and Toddlers in Delaware
100%
80%
60%
21.3%
N=24
8.8%
N=10
20.4%
N=23
53.1%
N=60
33.6%
N=38
8.0%
N=9
47.8%
N=54
23.9%
N=27
29.6%
N=29
32.7%
N=37
46.0%
N=52
38.1%
N=43
50.4%
N=57
50.0%
N=49
33.6%
N=38
46.0%
N=52
14.2%
N=16
25.7%
N=29
20.4%
N=20
40%
20%
0%
25.7%
N=29
Furnishings
and Display
for Children
(N=113)
70.8%
N=80
Personal
Care
Routines
(N=113)
Listening
and Talking
(N=113)
Learning
Activities
(N=113)
Interaction
(N=113)
Program
Structure
(N=113)
Adult Needs
(N=98)
Figure Legend
= rating of “poor”
= rating of “mediocre”
= rating of “good”
Quality Profile of Head Start and Early Childhood
Assistance Programs in Delaware Designed to
Serve Children in Poverty and with Disabilities
100%
80%
62.2%
N=51
52.4%
N=43
43.9%
N=36
18.3%
N=15
50.0%
N=41
75.6%
N=62
6.1%
N=5
6.1%
N=5
68.3%
N=56
65.9%
N=54
69.1%
N=38
17.1%
N=14
31.7%
N=26
29.1%
N=16
14.6%
N=12
2.4%
N=2
1.8%
N=1
60%
40%
20%
36.6%
N=30
0%
1.2%
N=1
Space and
Furnishings
(N=82)
34.1%
N=28
13.4%
N=11
Personal
Care
Routines
(N=82)
Language
and
Reasoning
(N=82)
Activities
(N=82)
Interaction
(N=82)
Program
Structure
(N=82)
Parents and
Staff
(N=55)
Figure Legend
= rating of “poor”
= rating of “mediocre”
= rating of “good”
Ensuring High Quality Child Care
and Early Intervention
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Meaningful partnerships
with children’s families and
specialists
Teachers with associate or
bachelor degrees in early
care and education and
significant knowledge of
child development and
curriculum development
and implementation
Programs that embrace
and incorporate the
cultures and communities
of the children they serve
Ensuring High Quality Child Care
and Early Intervention (continued)
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Program directors with
advanced expertise and
experience in early care and
education, including the
ability to manage and lead
Excellent capacity to address
language, literacy, and
numeracy components of
children’s development
Excellent capacity to address
social-emotional components
of children’s development
On-going training and
development for teachers
and administrators that focus
on special needs
University of Delaware Early Learning
Child care center for 225 children birth
Center
to 12 years of age
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20% children with disabilities
40% children living in poverty
provides state of the art, evidencebased, education, prevention, and
intervention services
Currently conducts 18 research studies
within the Center focusing on
neurological development; PT, OT, and
speech treatments strategies, and a
host of other topics
Currently provides training to over
2,000 undergraduate and graduate
students through clinical and research
experiences each semester
Currently provides training and
technical assistance early care and
education providers throughout the
state
University of Delaware Early
Learning Center Examples
4 year old with
Down syndrome
 28 month old
toddler with spastic
diplegic cerebral
palsy and blindness
 10 month old infant
with visual
impairment, mild
cerebral palsy and a
40% cognitive delay
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Next Steps
 To
work with community child care
setting to:
– Increase staff knowledge and skills
about physical, sensory, communication,
and cognitive disabilities
– Reduce staff resistance to serving
children with special needs
– Provide technical assistance support as
community-based child care settings
serve children with special needs
Contact Information
Karen Rucker, Director
University of Delaware
Early Learning Center
489 Wyoming Avenue
Newark, DE 19716 USA
krucker@udel.edu
+1 302 831 6205
Michael GamelMcCormick, Director
Center for Disabilities
Studies
166 Graham Hall
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716 USA
mgm@udel.edu
+1 302 831 6974
www.udel.edu/cds