Examined the cognitive and social complexity of the play of disabled children enrolled in integrated early childhood programs and their interaction with teachers. Found that teachers were more likely to support the cognitive aspects of children's play than the social aspects, despite their belief that disabled children lagged behind their…

This study of family perceptions of early intervention services used a written survey (quantitative) completed by 539 parents of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers receiving early intervention services and in-depth, semistructured interviews (qualitative) with 12 parents. It found overwhelming satisfaction with most services, with some concerns…

Using a technical assistance model, the New England Center Pilot Project provides training and consultation to programs serving young children who are deaf-blind in inclusive education settings (preschool, kindergarten, and first grade). This article discusses the model's four major components, salient issues, and recommendations to enhance…

Peer tutors and task sheets can help students with disabilities to succeed in regular physical education classes. The article explains who can tutor, how to train tutors, how to use task sheets, how long it takes to train peer tutors, safety awareness, and task sheet verification. A peer tutor instruction sheet is included. (SM)

Mainstreaming deaf children may not adequately meet their educational, cultural, or social needs. Those advocating full inclusion have mistakenly pursued equal treatment rather than equal opportunity. The answer lies in approaching the problem from a cultural-pluralism perspective. (133 references) (MLF)

Analysis of data on 97 elementary students with and 97 without mild disabilities found that teachers' attitudes toward integration were not related to the social status of students with disabilities. However, teacher and peer perceptions of academic behavior and peer perceptions of disruptive behavior were related to social status for both student…

This study of two sixth-grade classrooms (containing general, remedial, and special education students) evaluated teacher planning, curriculum content, classroom instruction, student perception, and student assessment. The study suggests the need for a carefully defined model for serving students with special needs in content classes, with clearly…

Comparison of the attitudes of German high school students (n=119) with earlier studies of Irish and Australian students found German students more confident at meeting a person with mental disabilities, more interested in policy changes to ensure better services, less positive about general social integration, and very negative about…

This study, involving 11 young children with mild disabilities, found that, on reduction of teacher attention, children in 2 classrooms performed their reading tasks appropriately whereas children in the third classroom did not maintain on-task behavior with minimal teacher support. On implementation of a simple checksheet procedure, three of the…

Suggests that Public Law 99-457 raises questions about the play of children with special needs. Discusses topics which include (1) the developmental nature of play; (2) play of special needs children; (3) strategies for teaching play skills, and (4) implications of research for teachers' practice. A direct approach to teaching children about…

This article discusses the special education system in Nigeria, focusing on integration; training of special educators; medical, health, and welfare services for children with disabilities; recreational facilities; employment opportunities; national planning; and problems and successes. (JDD)

A California pilot program is described in which five hard-of-hearing students enrolled in a mainstream high school German class. Although their speech in English was limited and their hearing loss was severe, they kept up with their hearing classmates in reading, writing, and listening (lip reading) and could speak as intelligibly in German as in…

Illinois educators (n=314) were surveyed to examine their attitudes and perceived ability to work with students with handicaps. Respondents were willing to teach students who were gifted or had physical handicaps, but not students with mental handicaps. The survey also assessed specific types of support/resources preferred by teachers. (Author/JDD)

This paper focuses on the integration of preschool children with moderate to profound disabilities in a day care center. The paper offers a rationale for day care integration, outlines best practice components, and describes a program which merged an early intervention program for children with disabilities with a community-based child care…

Forty-seven senior education students' attitudes toward teaching special needs children in the mainstream did not change significantly after a four-month practicum. Subjects reported more positive attitudes to mainstreaming than did a similar group of interns from eight years prior. Characteristics such as age and gender were unrelated to…