Browsing by Subject "Early Childhood Special Education"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Relationship between Early Childhood Special Education Participation and Child Welfare Involvement
    (2018-12) DeZelar, Sharyn
    Numerous studies have highlighted the increased risk for child welfare involvement of children with disabilities, including those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Despite awareness of the increased prevalence of maltreatment risk of these children, few prevention programs have been developed that specifically target children with disabilities for maltreatment prevention. However, many children with ASD and other disabilities participate in early interventions for children with disabilities, including Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE). ECSE services provide children with ASD and their families with multiple supports and services, which are aimed at improving child, parent and family functioning, reducing developmental delays, and connecting families with needed resources and services. As these services and aims mirror evidence regarding successful maltreatment prevention programs and models, there is potential for children who receive ECSE services to have less involvement with child welfare. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore if participation in ECSE impacts child welfare involvement for children with ASD. Using merged administrative records from the Department of Education and the Social Service Information Systems data on child welfare involvement, a sample of all second and third grade children (during the 2015/2016 school year) in Minnesota with a school-designation of ASD was identified. A retrospective and longitudinal analysis of prior special education service involvement and child welfare involvement was conducted, using descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis, ANOVA, and linear and logistic regression analyses. Results show that there are demographic differences in children with ASD who receive special education services as compared to children with ASD who did not receive services. Further, there were demographic differences in children with ASD who participated in child welfare, as compared to children with ASD who did not participate in child welfare. While overall, involvement in special education services was not correlated with reduced child welfare involvement, there were some correlations among children from specific racial/ethnic and income groups. These findings have implications for social work practice, policy and research.
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    Influence of Child Find Referral Mechanisms on Early Childhood Special Education Participation
    (2018-06) Farnsworth, Elyse
    According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004), state and local education agencies are obligated to locate, identify, and evaluate all individuals ages birth to 21 years who may be in need of special education services and supports. Past research suggested, however, that disparities exist between the percent of children who demonstrate needs and those who participate in special education (e.g., Boyle et al., 2011). This indicates that child find referral mechanisms may not be effectively functioning to locate all children in potential need and suggests that examining the influence of referral mechanisms on receipt of special education may provide important information for improving practices and upholding the law. During preschool, four common child find referral mechanisms exist to aide in the identification of young children with special needs. These include referrals that result from early childhood screening, well-care visits, early childhood education providers, and parent knowledge of development. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, I aimed to understand if the disparities between special need and special education participation are observed during preschool. Second, I examined the extent to which involvement with one of the common child find referral mechanisms predicted participation in early childhood special education among a nationally-representative sample of preschoolers with special needs born in the United States in 2001, using multivariate logistic regression of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort. Findings indicated that 20.9% of preschoolers included in the sample demonstrated special needs, while only 5.9% of participants received special education services during preschool. Attendance at well-care visits and parent knowledge were not significant predictors of early childhood special education participation after controlling for ecological covariates; however, attending early childhood screening and any form of early childhood education significantly increased the likelihood that preschoolers with special needs participated in early childhood special education. The relationship between early childhood screening and receipt of early childhood special education was moderated by gender, with significant effects being most profound for girls. Likewise, birthweight influenced the relationship between early childhood education and early childhood special education participation. Results suggest that educational agencies should focus child find efforts on strengthening referral relationships with early care providers and ensuring all families of young children attend early childhood screening.
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    A Qualitative Study Exploring Early Childhood Interventionists' Experiences of Ongoing Participation in a Reflective Consultation Program
    (2014-08) Harrison, Mary
    Background: Reflective Consultation (or Reflective Supervision) is a model of professional support and development for practitioners working with families and young children who, in many cases, are facing multiple stressors. Designed to bring principles of Infant Mental Health to non-mental health practitioners, this model is now widely used in several federally funded, evidence-based programs. Despite its growing utilization, there exists little empirical research examining the implementation, essential elements of the model, or its impact on practitioners or clients. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore one model of Reflective Consultation as experienced by a group of early childhood practitioners and to contribute their voices and perspectives to the growing body of research. Methods: Qualitative research methods were used to answer the research question: how do early childhood interventionists experience the Reflective Consultation Program? Practitioners who had participated in Reflective Consultation for one year or more were invited to participate and fifteen agreed. Semi-structured interviews were audiotaped and analyzed for both variable and comparative case-based themes. Results: Variable-based analysis showed that most practitioners experienced an iterative process of release, reframe, refocus, and respond as part of their ongoing participation in the Reflective Consultation program. Participants described a shift between feeling helpless, hopeless, and overwhelmed by the stressors their clients faced to feeling a greater sense of self-efficacy in being able to better refocus and respond to the needs of their clients. A comparative, cased-base analysis raised questions about for whom and under what circumstances the program may be most beneficial, for example, based on the professionals' tolerance for discussion and reflection on emotions, or the characteristics of the agency or existing supervision. Participants described the incorporation of the reflective processes they had experienced in the large group into their smaller team meetings and peer conversations.