Question

Module 01 Assignment - Importance of Special Education in Early Childhood Education

Now that you have a foundation of understanding Early Childhood Special Education, it is important to think about how the fields are connected and key in child development.

Write a 1-2 page paper (not counting the title or references pages) on the significance of Special Education. In your paper, address the following:

Why do you think Special Education is important in early childhood?Include specific examples of how Special Education can impact your work with young children.

You should use 2-3 reputable resources (for example, research journals, articles, or books), cite them using in-text citations, and list them on a references page formatted according to APA guidelines.

Answer 1

Special Education:

Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) services are designed for young children (aged 3-5) with disabilities who need specially designed instruction or related services and whose disability(ies) causes the children to be unable to participate in developmentally appropriate typical preschool activities.

Importance:

Children, with learning disabilities are often neglected and looked down upon by the society. They often receive negative feedback from schools and hence refuse to develop positive cognitions to the outside world. This is very wrong. As humans, it is but their basic right to an equal opportunity of receiving education.

Special education therefore basically refers to “educational programs and practices designed for students- who are handicapped or gifted, with mental, physical or emotional disabilities and hence require special teaching approaches, equipment or care within or outside a regular classroom.”

In addition to their school system, special education classes for these children are a necessity. Such kind of special education should give priority, to the enjoyment of education by special children. Like other children, special children, too have the right to receive proper education that helps them to grow and enjoy without fearing it.

Examples:

1) Recent studies demonstrate that state pre-kindergarten (pre-K) programs have had positive effects on children’s readiness to learn, with large impacts in some states.

2) Children participating in Chicago Child-Parent Centers were followed to age 24 in a study released last year, and a 2005 study tracked former participants of Perry Preschools to age 40.

3) Most early childhood interventions also have had positive impacts on children’s emotional and behavioral outcomes, including long-term reductions in criminal behavior.