Including special needs children in mainstream settings can be a scary experience for the staff, says Mary Evans
Deciding to implement an policy of inclusion and take children with special educational needs into mainstream early years settings can be a daunting prospect for the staff, especially if they have no previous experience of working with the disabled.
Staff often doubt that they will be able to cope and sometimes even worry that they might inadvertently harm the children by not lifting them properly or by not positioning them safely if they are having a seizure. However, as early years practitioners who have worked with disabled children have discovered, it is ignorance that breeds fear. The initial nervousness and anxieties can be quickly overcome if staff are given training, information, advice and support.
Fears to overcome Helen Connolly, the special educational needs co-ordinator for the Kindercare nursery chain, describes how many years ago, before she joined the chain, she worked with epileptic children. 'I have always remembered how frightening it was the first time I saw a child have convulsions. He was about two years old and I was a 16- year-old student. The people working there knew exactly what they were doing, but for me it was really scary because it looked so violent. I knew the theory but I didn't know what to expect. It wasn't until afterwards I fully realised that if you did the right things the child wouldn't do himself any damage. He was so small you could hold him and cuddle him.'
Mrs Connolly uses her early experience to help her colleagues face new situations. 'I explain that the more you see children having convulsions, for example, the less you feel frightened by it.' As a member of various disability groups she has collated a library of information to share with her colleagues.
She says it is crucial to encourage staff to feel confident that they can cope.
'I think it makes a big difference for staff if they can talk things through with colleagues and say, "Look, I am concerned about this or that" and somebody with first-hand experience can talk them through it.'
Kindercare employs a special needs co-ordinator at each of its nurseries who meets with staff regularly to exchange best practice ideas and information. The company also maintains special needs registers at each setting and regularly reviews the children's performance with the relevant key workers.
Sharing parents' feelings Carole Warden, head teacher of Woodlands Park Nursery Centre, part of the Early Excellence Network in the London borough of Haringey, says she and her staff worked through their concerns before two children with cerebral palsy and allied conditions joined this term. 'We did have some reservations. There was a fear that we would not be good enough. One child has brittle bones and there was a fear that the child might come to harm or might die. We needed a lot of support and information. We weren't so worried about lifting or hurting our own backs - our worry was how to stimulate and communicate with these children.
'We also had to confront a feeling of sadness, too. These children with profound and multiple learning difficulties face an uncertain future, whereas most of the children we work with are developing normally and their parents have great expectations for them. I am not saying that they can't progress or that their life stories will not be happy, but that they are more circumscribed. I suppose that we experienced some of the feelings their parents experience.
'We had a couple of terms to prepare. I went on a home visit with one of the staff, which was a very positive experience. We talked to other people who worked with cerebral palsy children and learned how they had overcome their initial fears.'
The nursery dealt with the situation by working closely with the parents, operating a very strong key worker system and by creating a specific heath care plan for every child with difficulties.
'The parents teach the key worker who learns and shares with the rest of the staff. I have been very impressed by how the two staff have coped. One has since told me she had a little cry in the loo because she thought she wouldn't be able to do it. Now they are out at weekends buying sensory materials.
'We have consulted other professionals such as occupational therapists who told us what was the right chair for the children to use and advised us on assembling an activity box of sensory equipment.
'We also made sure we had the staffing levels right. You can't put any child in danger because you haven't got the staffing levels right. Provided you have got hearts and minds with you, you have got to give it a go.'
Trained and informed Janet Forst, head of the nursery unit at Elmsleigh Infant and Nursery School in south Derbyshire, which has a long history of inclusion, says that although it is useful to know about the impact of different diseases and disabilities, each child should be treated as an individual in his or her own right and not simply as a 'condition'.
'We always have eight children with special needs. You might think at first, "How can we cope with this?" but you soon learn. We have training and access to support services.'
She finds the way to cope is through information, training, preparation and planning. They operate a timetable for the autistic children in the nursery who prefer a structured routine. The children have a picture communication system telling them what is happening next. This takes them through the day, from leaving home in the morning to their return.
'They can have big problems if there is a change in routine, so when the fire alarm is going to go off for fire drill we have a symbol to show that something different is going to happen.'
Settings can consult outside professionals, such as occupational therapists and disability groups, on how to make their facilities more accessible or what specialist equipment to buy. In many cases the necessary physical changes are simple and very cheap - for example, installing wheelchair ramps or re-arranging the furniture in a room to accommodate a child using a walking frame.
In other cases it is the staff and managers who have to make changes in their working practices. Jan Nicholas, chief executive of Parents for Inclusion (see left), says, 'Obviously you might need to make some changes here or there, but we say what matters most is that the whole ethos and culture of the nursery has to be right.'
Helen Connolly says it can be very hard for staff to allow children with physical conditions to explore and take risks. 'As long as you make the environment as safe as possible, you can let them have a go. You can get out the gym equipment for a group of children even if you have to be extra careful that one of them doesn't fall and bang his head. You just make sure you pad the equipment all around and set it not quite so high as normal. In this way the children can still be involved in rigorous exploits but you have reduced the risks.'
Kindercare also operates a deliberate management policy of rotating staff around a nursery setting to prevent the children becoming so attached to individual members of staff that they are unable to relate to anyone else, especially if their key worker is absent.
Further information
- Parents for Inclusion is a London-based national charity which involves parents helping each other so that their disabled children can learn, make friends and have a voice in ordinary school and throughout life. Its work has focused on inclusion in schools but it is now turning to early years. The charity runs training days for parents and professionals.
For more information visit the PI website on parentsforinclusion.org or telephone its head office on 020 7735 7735. - Lancashire Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership has produced a comprehensive manual providing a step-by-step guide to including children with special educational needs in early years. It is available for 20 from Lancashire EYDCP Resource Centre (01772 452022).