Early Childhood Special Education: IEPs, Teams, and Outcomes

Introduction to Special Education's Role in Schools

Special education allows children with special needs to gain knowledge and develop skills that can help them lead normal lives and gain independence. Although some consider special education as separate from the total educational enterprise, it is not. It is an integral part of it and serves the community in more ways than one. The specific function of special education in schools is to recognize the needs of children who suffer from mental and learning disabilities and help them access the services they need to thrive in an academic setting. Early childhood special education services provide parents and children with the tools to promote success in education early on, giving students early access to support and services that will help them throughout childhood and into adulthood.

Because every child has needs, the special education component of schools provides extra assistance so that every child can be supported, rather than only a select group within the school population. However, with cases of children with special needs — especially in the early years — there can be many obstacles. These obstacles can result from poor teaching methods brought on by inadequate prior training, bad parenting, and lack of support from schools. Every child needs a strong head start when it comes to early education. From having an IEP to communicating and collaborating with the team responsible for assessing the child and helping the child meet his or her goals, every stakeholder is instrumental in the success of a child with special needs.

A central goal of educators is to help create accommodative learning opportunities for every child regardless of disability. The problem for most educators, however, is a lack of training in handling the needs of students with disabilities. Special education programs employ educators experienced in working with children with special needs and can provide them the assistance they require. Should a child require placement in a special education program, professionals are available to assess, plan, and place that child in a program suited to his or her needs. One such professional is a child psychiatrist or physician, who evaluates the child, identifies the symptoms or signs the child presents with, and provides an accurate diagnosis.

The IEP Process and Multidisciplinary Assessment

Once a child is assessed by a professional and given an official diagnosis, that child is granted, under federal law, an Individualized Education Program (IEP). With an IEP, a multidisciplinary team determines the level of disability and whether the child requires special education and other related services. The team also measures the child's performance level and sets goals accordingly. For a family, this is a significant help because with clear goals and allotted support, the family can move forward in ensuring their child is healthy and progressing. As one resource notes, "An effective facilitator makes a group's work easier — or at least, less difficult — by supporting clear communication among prepared parties in a structured and focused process. Put more simply, 'A facilitator's job is to support everyone to do their best thinking'" (Hedeen, Peter, Moses, & Engiles, 2013, p. 1).

Aside from the IEP, schools must also provide an environment that gives students access to all aspects of school life without feeling separate from students receiving a regular education. Special education has to function as part of and within the regular public school framework. This ensures that special education can help create and maintain a total educational environment in which any child can learn and properly develop. All children have unique needs and varying degrees of skill and talent. By incorporating special education within regular education, children who may need to transfer between programs will be able to do so seamlessly and without stress or difficulty. When this integration does not occur — particularly in early education — children placed in special education may feel "different" and become unmotivated to learn or grow.

Teaching is a major component of special education services, but so is homebound instruction, especially in the early years. Several service providers contribute to the overall teaching process for a child with a disability. From speech pathologists and physical therapists to homebound instructors, these services must come from experienced providers and, where possible, from an inter-collaborative setting in which medical professionals work together to ensure the child receives adequate assistance. This is especially important in the context of homebound instruction, as research has pointed out a lack of training among homebound instructors. "Although homebound instruction is often provided as an interim placement, students receiving these services are nonetheless entitled to a well-structured, instructionally sound, and accountable program" (Petit & Patterson, 2014, p. 49).

Collaborative Teaming Models in Early Intervention

When an IEP or IFSP involves a team of professionals who cannot communicate with one another and provide the level of care a child needs, the child will experience slow progress toward his or her goals. Collaborative teaming practices are a fundamental requirement in early intervention and early childhood intervention. This approach consists of three models: multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary teams are known for having clear hierarchies of authority and for providing isolated assessment, planning, and intervention processes for each profession represented on the team. Research has shown that transdisciplinary teams provide the best framework for implementing interventions across developmental domains for young children with disabilities (Hong & Shaffer, 2015).

Although difficult to achieve, the transdisciplinary approach gives teams the ability to create and adjust goals more suited to the individual child. The following case illustrates what a transdisciplinary team can accomplish for a child with a disability.

Sarah, a three-year-old girl, was diagnosed with autism and a neuromuscular disorder. Her parents felt overwhelmed by the number of appointments she required. However, a transdisciplinary early intervention program that offered one primary therapist helped simplify the process. Through collaboration with the primary therapist, the team was able to bring in a speech pathologist, a child psychiatrist, a physical therapist, and a nurse. Together, they helped Sarah achieve the goals she needed to transition successfully into special education classes at a regular school, supplemented by homebound instruction twice a week.

There are many other potential members of a transdisciplinary team, ranging from community health workers, social workers, and dentists to health educators, interpreters, mental health providers, nurses, registered nurses, nutritionists, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, occupational therapists, physical therapists, music therapists, and even volunteers. All of these professionals — and, in the case of volunteers, non-professionals — are meant to prepare the child for a brighter future. Therapists assist with mobility and function. Nurses and doctors address medications and diagnostic testing. Social workers and community workers help with referrals and access to additional programs. All of these contributions are necessary to ensure the health and well-being of a child with a disability.

Early childhood interventions can be among the most important interventions in a child's life (Rossin-Slater, 2015). Teachers need adequate training materials to provide quality curriculum that young children with disabilities can learn from and grow with. The LEAP (Learning Experiences and Alternative Program) model may provide the kind of support and instructional mindset that helps teachers work with children with disabilities. LEAP involves placing students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a typical learning classroom and having non-disabled children interact with them (WWC, 2012). Programs and support models of this kind not only make it easier for the teacher instructing students with special needs but also promote well-being by addressing the core need for children with disabilities to integrate with the non-disabled population.

Conclusion: Building a Support Network for Special Needs Children

Special education is an important aspect of school, and this is especially true for early childhood. Children with learning and/or mental disabilities need assistance as soon as it is available. By going through the assessment and diagnosis stage, children can then be given an IEP based on their performance level. The IEP helps the child receive the services he or she may need, as well as clearly defined goals to work toward. After this stage, special education teachers come in to help the child learn and develop.

This stage can often be difficult because some schools maintain a clear separation between special education and regular education. Research shows that such distinctions have a negative, isolating effect on both the child and the parent. Integrating special education with regular education will provide seamless transitions that benefit the child should he or she require transfers or additional developmental support. Development is a central focus of early childhood special education.

Teachers are the main agents of that development. Because children with special needs can exhibit challenging behavior patterns, they can place significant strain on a special education teacher's ability to cope. Special education teachers require extensive additional training that regular classroom teachers do not, and if that training is not provided — because the school is not equipped or does not see it as warranted — the consequences for the child can be serious and lasting.

Teachers, however, are not the only ones responsible for the well-being and academic success of a child. Parents play a critical role as well. Home life and parenting styles can either motivate or discourage a child from learning and cooperating. An authoritative parenting style is viewed as an effective strategy for helping children with special needs behave appropriately and engage in learning. The school, the specialists, the teachers, and the parents must all work together to ensure a successful future for children in special education programs.

References

Hedeen, T., Peter, M., Moses, P., & Engiles, A. (2013). Individualized Education Program (IEP)/Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) Facilitation: Practical Insights and Programmatic Considerations. Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE). Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED558077

Hong, S., & Shaffer, L. (2015). Inter-professional collaboration: Early childhood educators and medical therapists working within a collaboration. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 3(1), 135–145. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=early+childhood+special+education&pr=on&ft=on&pg=2&id=EJ1054910

Hooper, S., & Umansky, W. (2009). Young children with special needs. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.

Khan, A., Ahmad, R., Hamdan, A., & Mustaffa, M. (2014). Educational encouragement, parenting styles, gender and ethnicity as predictors of academic achievement among special education students. International Education Studies, 7(2), 18–24. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=special+education&pr=on&ft=on&id=EJ1068932

Petit, C., & Patterson, P. (2014). There's no place like home: Training, practices, and perceptions of homebound services. Physical Disabilities: Education and Related Services, 33(2), 36–52. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=early+childhood+special+education&pr=on&ft=on&id=EJ1061907

Rossin-Slater, M. (2015). Promoting health in early childhood. Future of Children, 25(1), 35–64. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=early+childhood+special+education&pr=on&ft=on&pg=2&id=EJ1062947

Steeley, S., & Lukacs, K. (2015). Cultural and linguistic diversity and special education: A case study of one mother's experiences. International Journal of Special Education, 30(2), 20–31. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=special+education&pr=on&ft=on&id=EJ1094799

WWC. (2012). WWC review of the report "Randomized, controlled trial of the LEAP model of early intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorders." What Works Clearinghouse Single Study Review. What Works Clearinghouse. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=early+childhood+special+education&pr=on&ft=on&id=ED546791