Chapter 4 Leader: Alyssia Harper Support Staff: Nikolette Edge, Beth Franks, Stephanie Garcia, and Jason Henderson

Nikolette Edge P.67 The poem "Advice to Professionals Who must 'Conference Cases'" was a reminder that every child is someone's son or daughter and those parents want to see them and the professionals to see them as beautiful individuals, not labels. P. 70 In the United States only 8% of all child care is considered to be of high quality and 41% of childcare is considered harmful to children." (As cited by Rapp & Arndt, 2012) Considering the importance of early education for children living in poverty and especially those with disabilities, the lack of good, affordable early childcare is a real problem. P. 79 Many parents with children with disabilities must limit their work schedule or quit working all together. This is extremely difficult for low-income families. Beth Franks P. 65 I had often wondered why doctors had no hope for children born with intellectual disabilities, but now I see that a theorist named Arnold Gesell believed and taught that nature was the deciding factor in a childs future. He also believed that early interventions to help children make gains was futile. Doctors agreed and followed along with this idea, not giving parents much hope for their children. P. 66 Public Law 99-457 (1986) mandated that children five years old and under have the right to early intervention services, including O.T., P.T, and speech therapy. This is personal to me because my daughter received her first IEP at the age of 18 months. Had it not been for those early interventions, she would not have made the early gains that she did. It also helped me because the teacher gave me a lot of strategies and activities to do with my daughter that enabled me to further her gains. P. 73 Part C of IDEA allows states the choice of whether or not to serve children aged birth to five years old. They are not currently mandated to do so. Additionally, states have the right to determine which agency they want in charge of early interventions. My daughters service came from the local school system (this was in Michigan).

Stephanie Garcia P. 65 President Kennedy was one of the first advocates for people with disabilities because his sister was labeled mentally retarded. He created the President's Panel on Mental Retardation (PPMR). This proposal called for better research, healthcare, education, and civil rights for persons labeled as having mental retardation. P. 70 Seven factors were identified in successful inclusion in 1995. They are "visionary leadership; collaboration; refocused use of assessment; support for staff and students; appropriate funding levels and formulas; parental involvement; and effective program models, curriculum adaptations, and instructional practices" (Arndt & Rapp, 2012). This just shows that there are many people and aspects that are involved in helping people/students with disabilities. Everything from funding, to staff, parents, and curriculum are involved. P. 78 Students in poverty are more likely to have disabilities. It could range from anything of lack of prenatal care to lack of proper nutrition and lack of preventative healthcare. Having a child with a disability requires a lot of time and money causing some parents to quit jobs because of the time issue and some parents not getting the correct healthcare because of monetary issues. Alyssia Harper P. 65 Advocacy groups can accomplish so much if they continue to work together. I think that President Kennedy accomplished so much during his time as president, but I believe that his success would have not been as grand without the help of the people. P. 70 The fact that there is little to no childcare for young children who have health issues or disabilities actually struck me this week. In my county there is only one preschool who will accept these children and it covers a 50-55 minute drive range. They do a fantastic job, but it is only Monday through Thursday from 8-12:45. I think that would be hard for a parent to have a work schedule that fits that time frame, especially is they are in that 55 minute drive range. P. 77 I really wish that we utilized transdisciplinary teams more often. I have talked with parents of young children who needs these services provided and many of them say that they feel that their home is a constant revolving door of people. I think if there were fewer people this would help cut down the time and people.

Jason Henderson

P. 67 Medical professionals originally tried to train parents who had disabled children until the focus shifted towards cooperative/mutual efforts between parents and professionals. I get that there needs to be reciprocal feedback, but I also understand why some parents need the "training" as many parents of disabled children have not had much exposure to the situation. P.73 Each state determines which agencies are responsible for early intervention services. If the child is from birth to 3 years old, I don't understand why the state's education department would have to fund the procedures for this service. It does not make sense to take out money for these cases if the situation does not pertain to a child in school. P.77 Utilizing natural environments is a good concept, which should be kept. However, anything that has to deal with meeting educational needs beyond the normal hours/conditions, the services should be funded from another source.