In the last 10 years, the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased 200 percent. Principals, special education directors, and superintendents across the country report that their schools are teaching increasing numbers of students with ASD. Educators want to provide a good and effective educational experience, but they may not be…

Establishing a process for identifying evidence-based practices (EBPs) in special education has been a significant advance for the field because it has the potential for generating more effective educational programs and producing more positive outcomes for students with disabilities. However, the potential benefit of EBPs is bounded by the…

Strategies that promote the independent demonstration of skills across educational settings are critical for improving the accessibility of general education settings for students with ASD. This research assessed the impact of an individual work system on the accuracy of task completion and level of adult prompting across educational setting.…

Issues affecting inclusion of young children with disabilities over the last 25 years are discussed. A brief history of early childhood inclusion is followed by a discussion of definition, terminology, and models for inclusive services. A summary of synthesis points derived from the research literature focuses on critical outcomes for children…

A primary effort in early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) is to use science to discover the most effective approaches for promoting positive outcomes for infants and young children with disabilities and their families. Syntheses of the literature are identifying practices having empirical support, but a gap still…

This study examined the effects of contact, books, and discussions on attitudes of kindergarten-age children (N=46) toward people with disabilities. At posttest, significant gains in acceptance were found only in a high-contact group who participated in a program designed to promote acceptance through storytime at school and home, structured play,…

A study of 188 kindergarten children evaluated the effectiveness of the Assessment Scale for Kindergartners, which was designed to evaluate the attitudes of kindergarten children toward children with disabilities. Results found the scale provided evidence of criterion-related validity and that children who'd had contact with children with…

To examine the effects of placing young nonhandicapped children in classes primarily containing handicapped children, 16 nonhandicapped children were assigned to integrated special education preschool classes. Placement of nonhandicapped children in integrated special education classes, where the majority of peers were handicapped, did not appear…

The purpose of this study was to examine the social participation of young children with disabilities in inclusive preschool programs. One hundred forty-three preschool-aged children with disabilities were observed in classrooms representing four organizational contexts: community-based, Head Start, public school, and blended. Children's and…

An alternating treatment design was used to examine differential treatment effects of employing single and multiple peers to promote social interactions of two handicapped preschoolers. Differential treatment results were generally not found. Both types of peer-initiation interventions produced increases in handicapped children's social…

Three nonhandicapped confederates were trained to direct social initiations to three handicapped preschoolers. Teachers prompted the confederates when necessary and rewarded them with tokens. Confederates' initiations resulted in increased frequencies of positive social interaction. There was not generalization to other classroom settings.…

The social initiation intervention, in which nondisabled children are taught to direct social overtures to exceptional students, has been found to result in positive social behavior change. Extensive evaluations have revealed no negative side effects on peer trainers and increases in the social responding, social initiations, and length of…

This curriculum guide provides classroom organizational guidelines, activities, and lesson plans to promote social interaction and the development of social competence in preschool children with disabilities or at risk for developmental problems or delays. The program is designed to include peers who are either developing normally or have higher…

A comparative view of early intervention for handicapped infants and preschoolers in Germany and the U.S. notes similarities in diversity of service provision across the states and in the emergence of early childhood special education as a legitimate discipline. Differences are noted in child-find procedures and in educational strategies. (CL)

Naturalistic inquiry is an alternative to traditional assessment and experimental methodologies for measuring the effects of early intervention programs with young handicapped children. Discussion focuses on (1) the inductive nature of the naturalistic method; (2) potential strengths and weaknesses; (3) procedures for data collection. (Author/JW)