INTEGRATING YOUNG-CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN PRESCHOOL - PROBLEMS AND PROMISE

Three-year-old Amy and her next door neighbor Kate attend a preschool program at their neighborhood community center. Making new friends at school has been fun for both of them. They enjoy art activities and ci rcle time, especially the new songs and fingerplays that their teacher sings with them. Kate always looks forward to running on the playgrou nd and climbing the monkey bars. Amy spends her time outdoors sitting in the sandbox or swinging on the swing. Kate and Amy are like a lot o f other little girls their age, with one important difference: Amy has cerebral palsy. She cannot walk, crawl, or speak. She uses a wheelcha ir or is carried by an adult to move from place to place. She understa nds what people say to her and is beginning to use a computer to help her communicate with others. In this community file years ago, childre n with disabilities similar to Amy's received intervention services in a special class or in an outpatient clinic. Much has changed in Amy's community in recent years: parents, teachers, and administrators work ed together to develop inclusive preschool programs. Although she rece ives extra help from therapists at the local clinic, Amy has the stimu lation and the challenges of attending school with her neighborhood fr iends. The discussion that follows examines some of the barriers that must be overcome and some of the benefits that are achieved in integra ted programs such as the one that Amy attends.