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1 ED 426 782 AUTHORTITLEINSTITUTIONSPONS AGENCYPUB DATENOTEAVAILABLE FROMPUB TYPEJOURNAL CITEDRS PRICEDESCRIPTORSIDENTIFIERSABSTRACTDOCUM ENT RESUMEPS 027 262 Evans, Judith L.; Ilfeld, Ellen M., Ed.; Hanssen, Elizabeth, Inclusive ECCD: A Fair Start for All Group on Early Childhood Care and Development,Haydenville, Van Leer Foundation, The Hague (Netherlands) .;Christian Children's Fund Inc., Richmond, VA.; High/ScopeEducational Research Foundation, Ypsilanti, MI.; Save theChildren, Atlanta, GA.; United Nations Children's Fund, NewYork, NY.

2 ; United Nations Educational, Scientific, andCultural Organization, Paris (France) .; World Bank,Washington, DC.; Aga Khan Foundation, London (England).1998-00-0083p.; Journal is subtitled "An International resource forEarly Childhood Development."Judith L. Evans, 6 The Lope, Haydenville, MA 01039; Works - Serials (022)Coordinator's Notebook; n22 1998MF01/PC04 Plus Based Instruction (Disabilities); Disabilities;*Early Childhood Education ; Educational Cooperation;Elementary Secondary Education ; Foreign CountrieS;*Inclusive Schools; Mainstreaming; *Normalization(Disabilities); *Regular and Special Education Relationship;*Special Needs Students*Early Childhood Development Programs.

3 UNICEFY oung children with special needs should be served withininclusive early childhood programs. Quality Early Childhood Care andDevelopment (ECCD) programs provide a model to use when developing inclusiveprograms for children of all ages. This theme issue of "Coordinator'sNotebook" focuses on the development of inclusive ECCD programs. The journalis divided into five sections. "Inclusion: Inclusive ECCD: A Fair Start forAll Children" provides a brief description of the history of attention tothose who are differently-abled, defines principles of programming forinclusive ECCD programs, identifies some of the issues related to creatinginclusive early childhood programs, and outlines the goals for inclusiveearly childhood programs.

4 "Related Resources " presents available independent,UNESCO, World Bank, and World Health Organization titles related to ECCD."Moving Toward Inclusion: Experience in Inclusive ECCD from Guyana, Lao PDR,and Portugal" supplies case studies of processes undertaken to createinclusive ECCD programs in many parts of the world. "International andInter-agency ECCD Initiatives" outlines current studies, projects, programsin the ECCD field. The journal's regular feature, "Network Notes," introducesrelevant new organizations and reports on activities, meetings, and thecalendar of the Secretariat and of the Partners of the Consultative Group onECCD.

5 (JS) ,1998(,==rcTh0 0,lorttvA,obroxw P0)0A o nit a AMUR)OHO BOOODONDGAM /WID ODOM tl DovwAn International resource for Early Childhood Development,111"Inclusion:Network Notes, Page 57 ECCD Initiatives page 51U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONO ffice of Educational Research and improvementEDUCATIONAL Resources INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC))14, This DOCUMENT has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating it0 Minor changes have been made toimprove reproduction qualityPoints of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policyPERMISSION TO REPRODUCE ANDDISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HASBEEN GRANTED BY_I)

6 Ac\N\ THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)Inclusive ECCD: A Fair Start for All Childrenpage 1 Related Resources page 24 Experiences in Inclusive ECCD from Guyana, Lao PDR,nd Portugal page 27 Inclusive ECCD:A Fair Start for All ChildrenJUDITH L. Mariawas born blind. Sheis the last of five children in her familyand lives in a squatter settlement on theoutskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Her oldersiblings watch out for Luz Maria, asdo neighbours. She is able to make herway around the compound, but seldomleaves familiar territory.

7 While verybright, Luz Maria will probably notgo to school since the teachers do notknow how to relate to her because ofher in the Sudan. He wasa very small infant, and he continues tobe below minimum weight on the growthcharts. He is lethargic, seldom smiles,and is not very interested in the worldaround him. People tend to ignore in Sarajevo. At the ageof three he was playing in the fields andsaw a plastic toy lying in the he went to pick it up it lost his right arm below the the accident he had been attend-ing a play group in the the accident he has stayed at home,his family is ashamed and embarrassedthat he cannot do the same things asother risk.

8 Too many children are victims of civil the world there are millions of chil-dren like Luz Maria, Lijembe and Farouk. Theyare classified as children withspecial needs; ,they are not like 'normal' children. The fact thatthese children have special needs means that they areand will be treated differently than other , as well as in many contemporary cul-tures and sub-cultures, children with special needshave been ignored or neglected, and also are complex practical and psychological factorsat play. Their families, and the children themselves,may experience shame and fear about their differ-ences.

9 The children are pitied and often reactions are generally due to ignorance aboutthe causes of their handicaps. Shame often arises fromthe belief that the handicap might be a a sin committed in the past; fear is commonbecause of the unknown and the unpredictable natureof the children's behaviour caused by their particularhandicap; pity results from the supposed helplessnessof the child and his/her need for care and children are ridiculed because they are different,and parents are embarrassed because of the child'sbehaviour.

10 Special needs children are often lookedupon as a burden. They are frequently regarded by thefamily and community as worthless, useless, anddependent, and it is no surprise that children quicklytake on this view of who are different and require specialattention need support, as do their families, howeverthe social mores which guide a community's reactionto these differences frequently lead the child and fam-INCLUSIONC oordinators' Notebook, Issue 22ily to isolation, rather than the inclusion they children are at risk of having special needs?