Supporting Regular Early Childhood Teachers in Integrating Young Children with Disabilities: A Power Continuum

Abstract

There is a growing body of philosophical, legal, and empirical support for integrated preschool programs. Yet, many young children with moderate to severe disabilities are not successfully integrated into regular preschool classes. An impressive body of literature highlights the value of integration for children with disabilities. Unfortunately, much less information is available on specific strategies for accomplishing this goal. This may be due, in part, to the difficulty in operationalising educational policies such as least restrictive environment and integration. This paper identifies a continuum of instructional strategies that promote the entry of young children with moderate to severe disabilities into regular preschool classrooms. The continuum is based on the concept of ‘power.’ Power judgements assess the relationship between the cost of a strategy (e.g. staff time, extra resources, potential for negative side effect, etc.) and its potential benefit. Effective power judgements result in the use of strategies that are likely to produce the desired effect with the lowest expenditure to effort, resources, and disruption of teachers and children.