Meeting Needs of Young Children at Risk for or Having a Disability

• Published in: Early childhood education journal 2010-04, Vol.37 (6), p.509-517
• Main Authors: Peterson, Carla A., Mayer, Lynn Milgram, Summers, Jean Ann, Luze, Gayle J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: At Risk Students; Child Development; Child Health; Children with disabilities; Control Groups; Disabilities; Disadvantaged Youth; Diseases; Early childhood education; Early intervention; Education; Eligibility; Head Start project; Identification; Individualized Family Service Plans; Individualized Instruction; Intervention; Language Skills; Learning and Instruction; Learning disabilities; Poverty; Pregnancy; Preschool children; Preschool Education; Preschool Teachers; Program Descriptions; Research Design; Sociology; Sociology of Education; Student Needs; Teacher Role; Thinking Skills; Young Children
• ISSN: 1082-3301; 1573-1707
• DOI: 10.1007/s10643-010-0375-3

Poverty-related factors place children at higher risk for disabilities and also serve as barriers to families accessing services for their children and themselves. Early childhood practitioners can play a critical role in supporting families by providing services to overcome these obstacles and by working in partnership with specialized early intervention programs to assure the families and children receive those services. Families ( N  = 3,001) enrolled in the Early Head Start (EHS) Research and Evaluation Project were randomly assigned to the program group (who received EHS services) or the control group in a rigorous, experimental design study in order to evaluate program impacts. All participating families were living in poverty, included a pregnant woman or a child below age 1, and were eligible for EHS. The majority of children enrolled in the EHS Research and Evaluation Project was identified as having at least one of a great variety of disability indicators (e.g., family received Part C services, child has been diagnosed as having asthma). There was a very small number of families, however, actually enrolled in Part C services. Enrollment in EHS was associated with children being less likely to have cognitive or language delays and their families being more likely to receive early intervention (Part C) services and have Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs) when they needed them.