The pathway for post-diagnostic services for autism tends to be complex, heterogeneous, and fraught with delays. This situation has repercussions for families' experience with care systems, the quality of early interventions, and family adjustment. To date, studies of parents' point of view on autism services have predominantly focused on the…

To examine the current status of early childhood inclusive education in New Zealand, this article highlights the country's overall structure of inclusive education and other services for individuals with special needs. The unique features of early childhood special education services are also highlighted. Challenges to enhance the quality of…

We utilized a survey to explore how early childhood personnel delivered high-quality and inclusive preschool special education and related services to young children with disabilities in one U.S. Western state. We conducted quantitative analyses on 418 participants' survey responses, including t tests and Mann Whitney tests to examine differences…

The transition from early intervention to preschool is a major early milestone for children with multiple disabilities and their families and the first of many transitions they will experience across the lifespan. However due to the low-incidence nature of multiple disabilities, this group has been largely left out of the literature surrounding…

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a worldwide disruption of education service systems. A significant gap has emerged in understanding the impact of these changes to both educational services and child development. The current qualitative study presents interviews with early childhood educators and parents to capture their experiences with…

The Ohio "Operating Standards for the Education of Children with Disabilities" identify the state requirements and federal Part B Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) requirements that apply to the implementation of special education and related services to students with disabilities by school districts, county…

Up to 50% of children starting mainstream school have speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). Furthermore, evidence links SLCN to poor academic performance and social, emotional and mental health needs. This research aimed to systematically review the literature for school-based oral language interventions, intended for KS1 children, in a…

As the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center states, children with disabilities have the right to participate in everyday activities with their typically developing peers. In inclusive early childhood programs and settings, social and learning activities are designed for the participation of all children. The provision and use of…

Child development occurs within the context of the child's family, neighborhood, and community environment. Early childhood providers support positive outcomes, not only for the children with whom they directly work with but also for their families. Families of children with developmental delays often experience unique challenges. A family…

The early childhood years are pivotal as they mark the beginning of a young child's life journey into education. This paper offers critical reflections of the early childhood care and education landscape in Singapore as it has evolved over the last decade. The discussion will draw on findings of the study "Vital Voices for Vital Years 2"…

Teachers and parents often find special education law complex and confusing. As one step for a basic foundation in special education law, a previous "TEACHING Exceptional Children" article (Zirkel, 2005) provided a snapshot of the "top five case concepts" based on 10 decisions from the Supreme Court. Each of these decisions…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the main federal statute governing special education and early intervention services for children with disabilities from birth through age 21.1 IDEA consists of four parts. Part A contains general provisions, including the purposes of the act and definitions. Part B contains provisions…

Following the establishment of newborn hearing screening programs, age of identification and length of time before receiving interventions has been reduced for children, including those with milder degrees of hearing loss who were previously not identified until school age. This population of early-identified children requires new support programs…

This article assesses the situation of preschool children in Austria facing the need to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability. Eligibility criteria for preventive preschool services and the necessary labeling of children as "disabled" or "at risk" are assessed as inhibiting factors within…

In recent years, more than 700,000 children aged 3 through 5 years identified with speech or language impairments (44%), developmental delay (37%), autism (9%), and other disabilities (10%) received federally supported special education services. For our republished article in the inaugural issue of the 50th anniversary volume, we have selected a…