Inclusion

Question 1

Describe Saskatchewan’s services and funding for young children with special needs. Identify the program name and the government department responsible. Outline the eligibility requirements and supports offered.

Answer 1

The program name is Child-care inclusion program, and it’s funded through the Ministry of Education. A referral, not necessarily a diagnosis is needed. The child must attend the program for at least 20 hours per month and the parents may be eligible for a subsidy. Programs can apply for funds to support the child, family and staff. Additional staff, training, and resources grants may be applied for as well.

Question 2

List some key reasons you would encourage parent participation in your program with children with special needs.

Answer 2

-Share cultural values, beliefs, and traditions
-Be the best source of information about any child
-Help with consistency from school to home
-Transfer knowledge from your program to home and to the community
-Assist with reaching milestones at a faster rate
-Access support from other families in the early learning and care program
-Gain a deeper understanding of their child’s strengths and needs

Question 3

What 3 things do children need aligned in order to be ready to learn?

Answer 3

Maturation, motivation and opportunity.

Question 4

What additional training is required if you want to work with special needs children in inclusive early learning program?

Answer 4

There is no required specialized training.

Question 5

What options are available to you for professional development if you wish to further your knowledge in working alongside young children with disabilities in early learning programs?

Answer 5

There are post-diploma courses, distance education courses and free on-line courses. You can learn more about specific disabilities, strategies and supports through agencies such as Autism Services

Question 6

Poverty is not the only environmental risk children can experience. List three more situations that pose an environmental risk for children.

Answer 6

-Child abuse and poor conditions
-Families that don’t believe in medication, medical treatment or medical intervention
-Limited or no access to medical care, especially those in remote areas

Question 7

A preschool aged child may have a label of developmental delay or developmental disability, but not a defined, specific diagnosis in most cases. Why is that?

Answer 7

In early childhood education, it’s understood that children develop at their own rate and pace, that is appropriate for them. It’s for this reason it’s extremely unlikely that a preschool aged child will have a specific label that is diagnosed until the characteristics or symptoms are more apparent or pronounced over time.

Question 8

List Benefits of Labeling.

Answer 8

• Advocating for support services and changes to the system.
  -Gaining funds from government to support the child’s development.
  -Creating a common language between professionals.
  -Enhancing public awareness of children with developmental differences.
  -Identifying specific medical conditions.

Question 9

List Disadvantages of Labeling.

Answer 9

-Viewing the disability before the child.
-Placing little effort in enhancing abilities.
-Diagnosing the child inaccurately.
-Assuming the child has needs in all areas of development.

Question 9

Define cognitive delay

Answer 9

Intellectual growth that does not follow the expected rate of development due to genetic or environmental conditions or a combination of both

Question 10

List the areas of development that may be delayed if the child has the potential for developmental delay.

Answer 10

-Language or speech
-Vision
-Motor skills
-Social and emotional skills
-Thinking (cognitive) skills

Question 10

What are some general programming strategies for Universal design?

Answer 10

-Break down any task into small steps.
-Work with simple concepts first and progress to more abstract concepts.
-Repeat, repeat, repeat teaching.
U-se hand over hand if needed to teach a skill.
-Have predictable schedules and routines.

Question 11

According to your textbook, what are the most serious challenges people with intellectual (cognitive) disabilities face?

Answer 11

Stereotypes, negative perceptions and discrimination by others in response to the different ways they learn and communicate.

Question 12

List specific biological risks of cognitive disabilities or delays.

Answer 12

-Birth complications such as anoxia, or premature births
-Viral or bacterial infections
-Trauma to the brain
-Ingesting poisonous substances
-Poverty, poor nutrition, substandard housing, lack of access to medication

Question 13

A child who is gifted requires specialized programming. What happens when this isn’t provided?

Answer 13

The child will become bored, uninterested and sometimes a behavioral challenge will develop.

Question 13

Why is it important to share with young a child who is gifted and talent that they aren’t expected to be the highest achievers in everything?

Answer 13

If the expectation is that they’re always “the best”, it may result in a child avoiding situations that may lead to failure.

Question 14

Why is it important to follow the lead of gifted and talented child’s interests?

Answer 14

They are creative thinkers and can often make complex connections to topics or ideas that another child their age wouldn’t developmentally be able to.

Question 15

What is the difference between gifted and talented child?

Answer 15

Gifted children have a combination of skill advancement in verbal skills, curiosity, concentration and memory, rapid learning and problem-solving.
Children who are talented have a special skill in one area.

Question 16

List some common breakdowns that can occur in hearing aids that you should frequently check for.

Answer 16

Earmould that isn’t fitting properly or is damaged, high-pitched squealing sound from a cracked earmould, dead batteries, device is switched off, or if the child’s ears are sore or irritated.

Question 17

What type of hearing loss would a cochlear implant be recommended for?

Answer 17

Sensorineural hearing loss.

Question 18

Why is it difficult to formally assess a child who has a visual impairment?

Answer 18

They don’t understand that what they see is imperfect and different from what others are seeing.

Question 18

How can an ophthalmologist support an infant or young child with a visual impairment?

Answer 18

prescribe eyeglasses, medication, surgery, eye exercises, occlusion (covering of one eye).

Question 19

Why do infants who are blind remain passive?

Answer 19

They can’t see the toys and materials in the environment. They don’t try to play with and reach for nearby objects or try to engage with other infants. They continue to hold their hands and shoulder height throughout infancy, like a newborn would.

Question 20

What are some physical characteristics of the eye that may indicate a visual impairment?

Answer 20

Crossed eyes or eyes that turn outward, red-rimmed, encrusted or swollen eyelids, inflamed, infected or watery eyes, recurring sties.

Question 21

What are the three Principles of Universal Design for Learning?

Answer 21

-Multiple means to represent ;using many formats to learn (e.g., child led and educator led.
-Multiple means of expression ;expressing what they know in many ways (e.g., art, drama, drawing, singing, dancing, talking).
-Multiple means of engagement;honoring a child’s interests and independence.

Question 22

What are Orthopedic conditions?

Answer 22

Physical disabilities that involve the skeleton, joints, and muscles

Question 23

Poor balance and an unsteady walking is called what?

Answer 23

Ataxia.

Question 24

A 3-years-old, just started to have symptoms the onset of an asthma attack. What 3 things should you encourage?

Answer 24

• Relax, stay calm, breathe easy
• Stay sitting upright
• Sip warm water

Question 25

The 3 methods did not help and now the child is in a full asthma attack. What do you do now?

Answer 25

Remove child from the trigger (dust, mould, cold air, etc), and administer the inhaler.

Question 26

When should you have call for medical assistance with a seizure?

Answer 26

If the seizure is over five minutes or if they had another seizure immediately following the first one. If in doubt, or unsure, always call for assistance.

Question 27

Sings of a Tonic-clonic (Grand mal) seizure?

Answer 27

Commonly fall to the floor and experience involuntary jerking muscle movements. May stop breathing for a moment, lose bowel or bladder control, and have bubbles of saliva emerge from the mouth.

Question 28

Sings of a Absence (Petit mal) seizure?

Answer 28

Momentary loss of consciousness. Slight twitching of eyelids, neck, or hands.

Question 29

What are some basic ideas to help a child with mental health?

Answer 29

Offer a stable, safe, and consistent environment.

Express caring and kind interactions, both verbally and physically.

Make a child feel valuable.

Form secure attachments.

Model resiliency skills to cope with stress and change.

Acknowledge and label feelings.

Equip a child with tools to appropriately manage emotions.

Equip a child with tools to control impulses.

Help them to develop healthy social and communication skills.

Question 30

A child with ASD will be challenged with??

Answer 30

-Social skills.

-Nonverbal communication (eye contact, gestures, facial expressions).

-Understanding relationships.

-Repetitive motor movements and speech.

-Inflexibility with routines or thinking patterns.

-Hyper or hypo-reactivity to sensory experiences.

Question 31

Some basic strategies that can help a child with ADHD in the classroom?

Answer 31

-Keeping the environment neat and orderly.

-Limiting the quantity of loose materials.
-Balancing active and quiet times.
-Balancing large and small group times.
-Balancing educator led and child led activities.

-Using an inquiry based or emergent curriculum.

-Using consistent transition times.

Question 32

What kinds of dietary suggestions have been helpful in managing the symptoms of ASD?

Answer 32

Gluten free (protein found in the seed of cereal plants) and casein free (protein in milk) diets.

Question 33

Which disorder reports typical development up until 18 months and then a sharp decline in development, especially in the area of gross and fine motor skills and speech? It’s mostly diagnosed in girls as well.

Answer 33

Rett’s Syndrome

Question 34

What are the characteristics of childhood schizophrenia?

Answer 34

Tantrums, repetitive or unusual behaviours, unpredictable mood swings, withdrawal from social contacts, hallucinations, talking to themselves using private language.

Question 35

Explain some possible causes of ADHD.

Answer 35

Genetic transmission, risk factors include mother’s smoking, or drug or alcohol use during pregnancy, low birth weight, and brain injury.

Question 36

Violet is five years old and has ADHD. What may be some intervention strategies that could be beneficial for her?

Answer 36

-Both medication, and behavioural intervention.
-Modelling self-regulation and pro-social skills.
-Keeping the environment neat and orderly
-Limiting the quantity of loose materials
-Balancing active and quiet times
-Balancing large and small group times
-Balancing educator led and child led activities
-Using an inquiry based or emergent curriculum
-Using consistent transition times

Question 37

Name four mental health promotion and prevention programs as outlined in your textbook. Use one sentence to describe how each program supports mental health.

Answer 37

Kids have stress too! Preschool program – enhances coping skills and thinking skills.

Infant mental health promotion – promote best practice through education and collaboration with families, professionals and communities.

Handle with care – promoting mental health from birth to age 6 in child care centres – culturally relevant social and emotional development.

Reaching in… reaching out – tools needed to model and teach resilience to young a child, birth to 8 years old.

Question 38

Strategies that will be helpful to support young a child who may have learning disabilities are:

Answer 38

-Using descriptive praise.
-Using positive messages to increase behaviours.
-Focusing on the child’s strengths.
-Giving direction one step at a time, giving time to respond.
-Using concrete materials to teach skills.
-Being patient – many repetitions may be needed for understanding.
-Practicing universal design.

Question 39

In what ways are learning disabilities similar to characteristics of ADHD?

Answer 39

A child with learning disabilities and ADHD both have challenges
with attention, impulsivity, distractibility and hyperactivity

Question 40

Explain the three major sequences in language acquisition

Answer 40

Prelingual communication – crying, cooing, babbling.

First words and sentences – first words come at about one-year-old, and receptive and expressive language continue to develop.

Early sentences – moving from single word to two word sentences by three-years-old.

Question 41

What can be used to help a child to communicate who has severe communication disabilities?

Answer 41

Augmentative communication systems – symbols, signs, pictures or gestures to support communication. Voice synthesizers and PECS are two examples that can be used with a child.

Question 42

What are the Three Ways to View Inclusion?

Answer 42

-Beliefs and values ; Each family will come with their own story of what they believe about early childhood programs that support children with special needs.

-Experiences ; If families and educators have not been exposed to this type of service or programming, they may not be open to it. Conversely, if they have witnessed the benefits of inclusive programming, they may be more willing to give it a try.

-Outcomes – Families and educators have heard of positive outcomes in inclusive practices for children with special needs. In this sense, they may be more willing to give it a try.

Question 43

What are the Three Goals (or outcomes) of Inclusion?

Answer 43

-Membership
Ensure the program and environment meets the needs of all children. In this way, they feel they are a member of the community. Children shouldn’t be expected to fit into what is existing to belong.

-Relationships
There must be opportunity for reciprocal relationships where peers have the opportunity to be the helpers and the one receiving help.

-Development
There also needs to be space where individualized needs and strengths are addressed through specialized planning tools. These tools are called Individual Education Plans (IEP) and Individual Family Service Plans (IFSP). Each province determines what these look like specifically. You’ll focus on Saskatchewan’s approach to these tools in this class.

Question 44

What are the 6 principles that need to inform your inclusive practices in your work?

Answer 44

-Family Centred
-Recognition and Appreciation of Differences
-Transdisciplinary Approach
-Chronologically Appropriate
-Full and Meaningful Participation
-Research and Value Based

Question 45

What are the three milestones that outline the journey to inclusion?

Answer 45

• Forget and Hide (<1960)
• Screen and Segregate (1960-1970)
• Identify and Help

Question 46

Challenges and Concerns of Inclusion?

Answer 46

• Other families may feel that their child without special needs will learn undesirable social behaviour through interactions with the child with special needs.
• Families of a child with special needs may feel you won’t have the time or the skills needed to care for their child. They may feel their child will be left out or bullied.
• In early learning programs in Canada, it isn’t mandatory to include children with special needs.

Question 47

All children benefit from quality inclusive environments because these environments are:

Answer 47

-Stimulating
-Responsive
-Focused on strengths rather than deficits
-A place for peer imitation
-A place for peer tutoring of social skills, play behaviours and enhanced use of materials
-A place for peer interaction and encouragement
-Helpful for creating an understanding of differences and promoting respect for others
-Helpful for creating an awareness of one’s own strengths and needs
-A place to change attitudes of families toward people with disabilities

Question 48

How are the families of children with special needs a valuable resource?

Answer 48

Parents can share knowledge that’ll help you to best program and set up your early learning environment.

Question 49

What is a “Developmental disability”?

Answer 49

Developmental disability is a generalized term that indicates a child’s development is interfered with by a range of condition(s).
For example a child on the Autism Spectrum would have significant challenges in a number of areas, including socialization, communication and sensory stimulation.

Question 50

Describe “Developmental delay” .

Answer 50

Developmental delay occurs when a child’s development is progressing, but at a slower rate than what is typically expected. The child shows no long-term developmental consequences.
For example, James doesn’t walk until 20 months, but shows steady progression in expected developmental sequence. It’s typical for children to start walking anywhere from 8 to 18months, so James is a bit behind, but will likely run alongside his peers at age 5.

Question 51

Describe “Developmental deviation”.

Answer 51

Developmental deviation is when a certain area of the child’s development departs significantly from typical expectations of development. The child may have long term developmental consequences.

Question 52

What is the connect with Down Syndrome and speech?

Answer 52

Down Syndrome often has a short and wide tongue. Making specific speech sounds may be difficult or impossible. As a result, a child with Down Syndrome may express language differently, but it isn’t necessarily disabling.

Question 53

Describe “Special needs”.

Answer 53

Special needs is the general term used in early childhood education. Means the child is facing barriers in the areas of physical, social, emotional, communication, intellectual and/or behavioural development. The child may be vulnerable to environmental or non-environmental stresses. A child with special needs may have some or all of the barriers listed.

Question 54

What is the essence of inclusion?

Answer 54

The essence of inclusion is to ensure every child gets what they need to be successful. The goal of inclusion is NOT to make all children the same, but to acknowledge and celebrate differences. All children develop at their own rate and pace. You need to be prepared to respond to what each child needs. Some children need more support than others in some areas. This is what early childhood development is all about, responding to each child’s unique developmental cloc

Question 55

Describe previous language vs . People first language

Answer 55

Previous language devalued people and led to discrimination. Examples of words no longer acceptable are handicapped, crippled, and mentally retarded. People first language has replaced these negative terms. People first language places the person before the label or the disability. It describes what the person has, not who a person is. For example, you could say “Paul has a cognitive disability” instead of devaluing him by saying “He’s mentally retarded.”

Question 56

Read the scenario and answer the following question.
Your friend approaches you about her 4-year-old grandchild, Sherri. You know from past conversations that Sherri has experienced challenges with her social behaviour in her preschool program and environment. You’re expecting her to talk about this with you. Instead, she is upset by a new challenge. She has noticed over the past few months that Sherri has stopped progressing in learning her numbers and letters. In fact, her granddaughter has appeared to have forgotten to count to 20, something she had previously known how to do.

Answer 56

You would say that Sherri may be experiencing developmental disequilibrium. It’s something that is typical in young children. They are learning things so fast that there may be a period of inconsistent behavior that happens right after a spurt of rapid development. Suggest that she should continue to monitor this, but that you suspect it is a normal part of child development.

Question 57

Has the federal government developed specific legislation to support early learning programs?

Answer 57

No

Question 58

What philosophy has led the world in understanding and addressing the right to education for all children?

Answer 58

The Reggio Emilia philosophy

Question 59

Does SK have policies that guide educators in inclusive practices?

Answer 59

Saskatchewan doesn’t. Saskatchewan, does, however, have a description of services and funding for children with special needs.