Early Childhood Education
Preschool Inclusion/LRE
“Inclusion, as a value, supports the right of all children, regardless of abilities, to participate actively in natural settings within their communities. Natural settings are those in which the child would spend time had he or she not had a disability. These settings include, but are not limited to: home, preschools, nursery schools, Head Start programs, kindergartens, neighborhood school classrooms, childcare, places of worship, recreational (such as community playgrounds and community events) and other settings that all children and families enjoy. Inclusion is more than a setting. A defining characteristic of inclusion is the active engagement and participation between children with and without disabilities in the context of educational and community settings.”
Excerpt from Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children “Position Statement on Inclusion”, Adopted 1993, Reaffirmed 1996. Please see http://www.dec-sped.org/positionpapers.html to view the entire document.
The purpose of this Guidebook is to encourage and promote increased access for preschoolaged children with disabilities to be educated with their typically developing peers in preschool programs
Please refer to this document when determining placement for young children who are eligible for Prekindergarten and/or Early Childhood Special Education services.
