TC02: Foundation of Special and Inclusive Education

Assignment # 1

The History of Early Childhood Special Education

The field of early childhood special education has grown out of several different fields
including early childhood education, elementary special education, medicine and psychology.
A few people that have had a great influence on the education of young children with special
needs are: Jean-Marc Itard, Maria Montessori and Jean Piaget.

Jean-Marc Itard, tried to teach a 12 year old boy who was believed to have lived the first 12
years of his life in the woods with the wolves. While Jean-Marc was unable to fully educate and
integrate this young man into society he was one of the first to try to work with children with
special needs. His work influenced another theorist, Edouard Sequin, who started to understand
the importance of learning in the early years of childhood.

Maria Montessori, used the discovery approach to learning and encouraged other educators to
watch how students interacted with peers and their environment before developing different
learning experiences for the students. Montessori stressed the importance of building off of each
child’s interest. Montessori promoted the use of integrating the students’ senses and
incorporating manipulatives in learning.

Jean Piaget developed different stages of cognitive development. Piaget stressed the importance
that experiences play in our learning. His theories led to programs that consider the child to be an
active participate in his/her own learning and focused on the strengths of the students.

Laws and Legislation have had many important laws passed and amended in order to provide
individuals with disabilities the rights they deserve. Here are a few of the important ones and the
influence they have had on early childhood special education:
 The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act, ensures every
child’s right to access and take part in federally funded programs.
 Handicapped Children’s Early Education Assistance Act 196, this law set up programs
for early childhood education that involves parents. They provide trainings for teachers
and assessed both the students and the program.
 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, mandates the rights of young children with
special needs not just in preschools but in child-care centers and home child-care settings
as well. These institutions have to make rational adjustments for children with special
needs.
 No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, this law contains many parts that directly relate to
elementary and secondary education including testing in grades 3-8, highly qualified
teachers, all programs must be scientifically based on research and the requirement of
schools making adequately yearly progress. While these components of the law may not
influence early childhood education directly, they do create an indirect impact. For
example, many teachers and school districts feel that in order to prepare students for
 testing in grades 3 and up, students need to enter kindergarten with more readiness skills
which places a bigger academic task on early childhood educators.
Other parts of the law influence early childhood such as the Early Childhood Educator
Professional Development Program which provides grants for professional development
for programs that work with young children in low-income or high-need areas. The law
provides funding for the Early Reading First program which is a reading program for
students birth to preschool.
 Public Law 93-380 Education Amendments Buckley Amendment, this law was later been
revised, expanded and reauthorized several times resulting in 2004 in the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act. This law stated the government’s pledge to
educate students with special needs and started to look at things such as a student’s right
to be educated in the least restrictive environment and nondiscriminatory testing .

As a result of these laws current trends in early childhood special education include: Providing
services in inclusive settings with typical developing peers, Viewing the child as part of the
family and the care-giver relationship, Interventions that are carried out as part of the child’s
daily routine, providing hands-on, meaningful experiences Working with the family and their
cultural values, Collaboration among service providers (teacher, speech and language
pathologist, occupational therapist) and the family, Special education teachers that are trained in
providing support for special education students within the inclusive setting, and research based
programs that are based on standards and provide evidence of progress

The field of early childhood special education is constantly changing. It is our job to make sure
that society continues to value the importance of educating all students at early ages and young
children with special needs continue receive the rights and support they are entitled to.