8 Summary

Teachers will have children in their classrooms with diagnosed and undiagnosed special needs, including those related to their health. Early childhood programs have legal obligations to provide inclusive programs and inclusion benefits for everyone involved (children with special needs, their peers that do not have special needs, families, and teachers).

Having a solid foundation in developmentally appropriate practice, which includes the importance of learning about and meeting the needs of each individual child, goes a long way to providing inclusive early education. Support, accommodations, and collaboration are essential to providing inclusive early childhood education programming.

Unit Attribution

Adapted from Families of Children with Special Needs or Special Health Care Needs in the open textbook The Role of Equity and Diversity in Early Childhood Education by Krischa Esquivel, Emily Elam, Jennifer Paris, & Maricela Tafoya. CC BY license.