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Article Excerpt
This paper addresses early identification, services, supports, and intervention for young children, birth through 4 years, who demonstrate delays in development that may place them at risk for later identification as having a learning disability (LD). Such delays include atypical patterns of development in cognition, communication, emergent literacy, motor and sensory abilities, and/or social-emotional adjustment that may adversely affect later educational performance. Development in each of these domains may be related to individual variations in rates and patterns of maturation, environmental factors such as language exposure, and quality of learning opportunities. Although the focus of this paper is on developmental rather than academic expectations, it is recognized that adequate development across multiple domains is essential for subsequent school success. It also is important to recognize that when children are exposed to high quality learning opportunities prior to kindergarten, they are less likely to experience school failure and be misidentified as having LD in the early grades.
LD has been defined by the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) as a heterogeneous group of disorders of presumed neurological origin manifested differently and to varying degrees during the life span of an individual. These disorders are developmental in nature, occur prior to kindergarten, and continue into adult life. Various manifestations of LD may be seen at different ages and as a result of varying learning demands (NJCLD, 1985/2001a, 1990/2001c). Early indicators that a child may have LD include delays in speech and language development, motor coordination, perception, reasoning, social interaction, prerequisites to academic achievement and other areas relevant to meeting educational goals. These indicators may occur concomitantly with problems in self-regulation, attention, or social interaction (Lowenthal, 1998; McCardle, Scarborough, & Catts, 2001).
In effective programs for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, professionals (1) examine risk and protective factors, (2) conduct systematic observations of individual children, (3) assess developmental status, (4) create rich and varied learning opportunities, (5) plan and deliver services and supports, and (6) provide intervention based on assessment data. These programs are culturally and developmentally appropriate, linguistically sensitive, and based on scientific evidence.
This paper describes how such programs can be established and implemented, emphasizes the importance of family and caregiver involvement and responsibilities, discusses issues in professional preparation and development, and articulates critical research needs.
BACKGROUND
New legislation, advances in research, and changes in practice have occurred in the more than 20 years since the publication of the 1985 NJCLD paper "Learning Disabilities and the Preschool Child" (NJCLD, 1985/2001b). In that paper, the term preschool included the period from birth through kindergarten. This 2006 revision uses the term young children and focuses on the period from birth through age 4, or pre-kindergarten. In addition, this revision reflects new research in risk assessment, evaluation procedures, and high-quality learning opportunities and interventions, as well as an increased understanding of the links between early spoken language development and LD.
In 1985 when the NJCLD paper on preschool children was originally published, families and professionals were celebrating nearly a decade of benefits from the landmark legislation, The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (PL 94-142). School-age children (ages 6-21 years) with disabilities were entitled to a free and appropriate public education, in the least restrictive environment (LRE), based on individual needs and family preferences. This legislation set the stage for children with disabilities to obtain necessary services and to have opportunities to interact meaningfully with children without disabilities in general education settings. Subsequent legislation, The Education of the Handicapped Act of 1986 (PL 99-457), extended services from birth to 21 years, thereby providing the opportunity for young children to receive necessary individualized services and supports. Amendments and reauthorizations to this legislation, most recently The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004), have underscored the need to provide services in inclusive settings and in natural environments, to involve families and professionals in collaborative decision making, and to support the transition of young children through early intervention, preschool, and school-age service delivery systems.
In fact, a fundamental principle of this legislation is family-centered care, whereby families are fully involved in assessment and intervention decisions for their children, in development of both the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) for the birth to 3-year-old population and the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for older children. Professionals increasingly have recognized the need to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services to children and their families. Federal legislation has paved the way for young children, particularly those from underserved communities, to participate in beneficial programs.
Coordination is critical so that all services for a child are integrated and implemented effectively. IDEA '04 includes provision for a designated service coordinator. A service coordinator or case manager functions as the single contact person for parents who conveys information from the multidisciplinary team of professionals. Families, caregivers, and administrators depend on service coordinators to inform them about the agencies that provide services in their state.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2002) also has implications for young children with and without disabilities. Because of its focus on content and achievement standards and educational accountability, NCLB influences the areas that receive the most emphasis in preschool curricula and individually targeted interventions. An NCLB initiative, the Early Reading First Program, is designed to provide high-quality early education in the areas of language, cognition, and early reading skills to prevent reading failure, particularly for children from low-income families.
Finally, there has been an increasing emphasis in legislation, research, and practice on the provision of educational programs and services that are informed by available evidence. Evidence-based practices are grounded in valid and robust scientific research demonstrating that certain actions, under specific circumstances, are most likely to produce predictable and beneficial outcomes for children and families. Such practices are informed by an integration of theory, research, professional experience and judgment, and child/family values and preferences (see Sackett, Rosenberg, Gray, Haynes, & Richardson, 1996). However, research supporting practices varies in type and quality, with some practices more firmly grounded in research than others.
EARLY IDENTIFICATION
The purpose of early identification is to determine which children have developmental problems that may be obstacles to learning or that place children at risk. Development in infants, toddlers, and preschoolers is characterized by broad variability in rates and patterns of maturation. For some...
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