The purpose of this article is to present case studies of three children with autism who received educational services in a public-school-affiliated early childhood program during their preschool and kindergarten years and have had positive outcomes. We used a combination of documents and archival records (e.g., assessment results) as data sources. All children made substantial developmental and academic progress. The three children have entered elementary school in inclusive settings and continue to thrive; one child exited special education. Our purposes in presenting these findings are to suggest that there are multiple means to achieve promising outcomes for young children with autism and to expand the discussion of appropriate early childhood services for children with autism.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allen, K. E., & Schwartz, I. S. (1996). The exceptional child: Inclusion in early childhood education. Albany, NY: Delmar.
2.
Alpern, G., Boll, T., & Shearer, M. (1980). Developmental profile II.Aspen, CO: Psychological Development Publications.
3.
Anderson, S. R., Campbell, S., & O'Malley-Cannon, B. (1994). The May Center for Early Childhood Education. In S. L. Harris & J. S. Handleman (Eds.), Preschool education programs for children with autism (pp. 15–36). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
4.
Bondy, A. S., & Frost, L. A. (1994). The Delaware autistic program. In S. L. Harris & J. S. Handleman (Eds.), Preschool education programs for children with autism (pp. 37–54). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
5.
Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (Eds.). (1997). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs (Rev. ed.). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
6.
Bricker, D., & Cripe, J. (1992). An activity-based approach to early intervention.Baltimore: Brookes.
7.
Bristol, M., Cohen, D., Costello, J., Denckla, M., Eckberg, T., Kallen, R., Kraemer, H., Lord, C., Maurer, R., McIlvane, W., Minshew, N., Sigman, M., & Spence, M. (1996). State of the science in autism: Report to the National Institute of Health. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 121–154.
8.
Carta, J. J., Schwartz, I. S., Atwater, J. B., & McConnell, S. R. (1991). Developmentally appropriate practice: Appraising its usefulness for young children with disabilities. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 11(1), 1–20.
9.
Dawson, G., & Osterling, J. (1997) Early intervention in autism. In M. J. Guralnick (Ed.), The Effectiveness of Early Intervention (pp. 307–326). Baltimore: Brookes.
10.
Feinberg, E., & Beyer, J. (1998). Creating public policy in a climate of clinical indeterminacy: Lovaas as the case example du jour. Infants and Young Children, 10(3), 54–66.
11.
Fenson, L., Dale, P., Reznick, S., Thal, D., Bates, E., Hartung, J., Pethick, S., & Reilly, J. (1990). McArthur communicative developmental inventory.San Diego: Center for Research in Language.
12.
Gardner, M. F. (1990). Expressive one word picture vocabulary test-Revised.Novato, CA: Academic Therapy.
13.
Guralnick, M. J. (1998). Effectiveness of early intervention for vulnerable children: A developmental perspective. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 102, 319–345.
14.
Handleman, J. S., & Harris, S. L. (1994). The Douglass developmental disabilities center. In S. L. Harris & J. S. Handleman (Eds.), Preschool education programs for children with autism (pp. 71–86). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
15.
Harris, S. L., & Handleman, J. S. (Eds.). (1994). Preschool education programs for children with autism.Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
16.
Hepting, N. B., & Goldstein, H. (1996). What's natural about naturalistic language intervention? Journal of Early Intervention, 20, 249–265.
17.
Lincoln, Y. S. & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry.Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
18.
Lovaas, O. I. (1987). Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 3–9.
19.
McClannahan, L. E., & Krantz, P. J. (1994). The Princeton Child Development Institute. In S. L. Harris & J. S. Handleman (Eds.), Preschool education programs for children with autism (pp. 107–126). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
20.
McGee, G., Daly, T., & Jacobs, H. A. (1994) The Walden preschool. In S. L. Harris & J. S. Handleman (Eds.), Preschool education programs for children with autism (pp. 127–162). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
21.
Newcomer, P. L., & Hammill, D. D. (1988). Test of language development (2nd ed.). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
22.
Odom, S. L., & McLean, M. E. (1996). Early intervention/early childhood special education: Recommended practices.Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
23.
Prutting, C. A., & Kirchner, D. M. (1987). A clinical appraisal of the pragmatic aspects of language. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 52(2), 105–119.
24.
Rogers, S. (1996). Brief report: Early intervention in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24, 243–246.
25.
Romanczyk, R. G., Matey, L., & Lockshin, S. B. (1994). The children's unit for treatment and evaluation. In S. L. Harris & J. S. Handleman (Eds.), Preschool education programs for children with autism (pp. 181–224). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
26.
Schopler, E., Reichler, R. J., & Renner, B. R. (1988). The childhood autism rating scale.Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
27.
Schwartz, I. S., Billingsley, F. F., & McBride, B. (1998). Including children with autism in inclusive preschools: Strategies that work. Young Exceptional Children, 1(2), 19–26.
28.
Shook, S., Billingsley, F. F., & Schwartz, I. S. (1997). Using individualized picture schedules to facilitate transitions for young children with autism. Manuscript submitted for publication.
29.
Siegel, B. (1996). The world of the autistic child.New York: Oxford University Press.
30.
Sparrow, S., Balla, D., & Cicchetti, D. (1984). Vineland adaptive behavior scales.Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
31.
Strain, P. S., Wolery, M., & Izeman, S. (1998). Considerations for administrators in the design of service options for young children with autism and their families. Young Exceptional Children, 1(2), 8–16.
32.
Thorndike, R. L., Hagen, E. P., & Sattler, J. M. (1985). Stanford-Binet intelligence scale (4th ed.). Chicago: Riverside.
33.
Woodcock, R. W., & Johnson, M. B. (1989). Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised.Allen, TX: DLM.
34.
Yin, R. K. (1989). Case study research: Design and methods.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
35.
Zimmerman, I. L., Steiner, V. G., & Pond, R. E. (1992). Preschool language scale-3.San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corp.
