Ensuring Quality Services for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities and their Families within the BabyNet Early Intervention System: An Analysis of Current and Needed Resources

This report prioritizes the targeted, additional resources First Steps and system stakeholders believe will be necessary to ensure the BabyNet system earns a federal designation of “meets requirements” for the first time in its 25 year history. It lists key recommendations to help meet those requirements.

ACCESS FOR ALL VOTERS In South Carolina

The State Election Commission and your county voter registration and elections office work to ensure every voter has full access to the voting process. This paper explains assistance in voting, curbside voting, voter registration, the design of the voting machine and how to get additional information regarding voting.

Parents' guide to the development of preschool children with disabilities : resources and services /

"May 1992."

Medicaid and special education : coordination of services for children with disabilities is evolving : report to the Honorable Edolphus Towns, House of Representatives /

"GAO/HEHS-00-20."

Development and implementation of a new service delivery model for children with disabilities : implications for DCD

There is a general consensus that new service delivery models are needed for children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Emerging principles to guide service delivery include the use of graduated levels of intensity and evidence-based services that focus on function and participation. Interdisciplinary, community-based service delivery models based on best practice principles are needed. In this case report, we propose the Apollo model as an example of an innovative service delivery model for children with DCD. We describe the context that led to the creation of a program for children with DCD, describe the service delivery model and services, and share lessons learned through implementation. The Apollo model has 5 components: first contact, service delivery coordination, community-, group- and individual-interventions. This model guided the development of a streamlined set of services offered to children with DCD, including early-intake to share educational information with families, community interventions, inter-disciplinary and occupational therapy groups and individual interventions. Following implementation of the Apollo model, waiting times decreased and numbers of children receiving services increased, without compromising service quality. Lessons learned are shared to facilitate development of other practice models to support children with DCD.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Public School Prekindergarten Program for Children with Disabilities

A stratified sample of teachers was surveyed to determine their opinion about a Pre-k Program for Children with Disabilities. The results revealed that the teachers were satisfied with their students' progress, the support received from their administrators and district, and their ability to implement the curriculum to meet students' needs.

Analysis of Haitian Parents’ Perceptions of the Education of Their Children with Disabilities

This study explored Haitian parents’ perceptions of their children with disabilities. Findings revealed parents’ perceptions were guided by two core concepts: coping mechanisms and locus of control. Parental involvement was strongly influenced by values, beliefs, customs, and conceptual knowledge that were closely aligned with culture and acculturation.

TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN RURAL EL SALVADOR

The attitude of school teachers toward inclusion of children with disabilities is an important factor in the successful implementation of a national inclusion program. With the universal pressure to provide education for all and international recognition of the importance of meeting the needs of diverse populations, inclusive education has become important to governments around the world. El Salvador’s Ministry of Education seeks to establish inclusion as an integral part of their struggle to meet the needs of children across the country, but this is a difficult process, especially for a country with limited resources which still struggles to meet international expectations of educational access and quality. Teacher attitude is an important factor in the success of inclusion programs and can be investigated in relation to various factors which may affect teachers’ classroom practice. While these factors have been investigated in multiple countries, there is a need for more knowledge of the present situation in developing countries and especially in schools across the rural areas of El Salvador to meet the needs of the diverse learners in that country. My research was a mixed methods case study of the rural schools of one municipality, using a published survey and interviews with teachers to investigate their attitudes regarding inclusion. This research was the first investigation of teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion in rural El Salvador and explored the needs and challenges which exist in creating inclusive schools across this country. The findings of this study revealed the following important themes. Some children with disabilities are not in school and those with mild disabilities are not always getting needed services. Teachers agreed with the philosophy of inclusion, but believed that some children with disabilities would receive a better education in special schools. They were not concerned about classroom management. Teachers desired more training on disability and inclusion. They believed that a lack of resources, including materials and personnel, was a major barrier to inclusion. Teachers’ attitudes were consistent regardless of family and professional experience with disability or amount of inclusion training. They were concerned about the role of family support for children with disabilities.

The vulnerability of children with disabilities to abuse: a literature review.

The Children (N.I.) Order 1995 provides a legal framework for the care and protection of al! children including those with disabilities. The Order sets out a number of key principles which apply to all children, including that the child's welfare is paramount, that children should be safe and be protected through effective interventions, and that children with disabilities are to be recognised as children first.

Minding the Gap: Children with Disabilities and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

This chapter provides a critical assessment of the approach adopted by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) towards children with disabilities and its implications for socializing States Parties to both ‘right’ and ‘rights’ behaviour. It discusses the ways in which ‘rights talk’ for children with disabilities, itself a relatively recent development in this context, has been predominantly needs based in its substantive content, and explores whether the exacerbated disadvantage experienced by children with disabilities as a result of the particular interaction between disability and childhood is effectively addressed and given due weight by the new Convention. The CRPD's provisions are discussed in the context of children with disabilities and their potential to provide effective redress assessed. The chapter concludes with some critical reflections on the extent to which the CRPD can really be understood as minding the gap for children with disabilities.

Lived experiences of children with disabilities in various movement programs

This research offered children with disabilities the opportunity to express their voices in the description of their movement experiences. Three children aged 10-13 shared their experiences in school physical education and adapted physical activity. Observations of participants using interactive media activities in an adapted physical activity program were used to supplement interviews. The aim of this research was to discover how future professionals are prepared to design and implement physical activity and physical education programs for children with disabilities. A document analysis of Ontario university course calendars in the fields of physical education and kinesiology, disability studies, and teacher education was utilized. Data from each data context underwent four levels of reduction: 1) content, 2) categorical, 3) thematic, and 4) indigenous typologies. Findings are presented at each level leading to the presentation of indigenous typologies. Typologies of Forbidden-ness and Dichotomous Thinking were identified in the research.

Identification of maltreatment type in children with disabilities using the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS)

This study was a retrospective design and used secondary data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), provided by the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect Family Life Development Center administered by Cornell University. The dataset contained information for the year 2005 on children from birth to 18 years of age. Child abuse and neglect for disabled children, was evaluated in-depth in the present study. Descriptive and statistical analysis was performed using the children with and without disabilities. It was found that children with disabilities have a lower rate of substantiation that likely indicates the interference of reporting due to their handicap. The results of this research demonstrate the important need to teach professionals and laypersons alike on how to recognize and substantiate abuse among disabled children.^