Inclusion, Episode 0: Overview Episode

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Season 3 Overview Episode: Primer on Supports for Early Childhood Special Education

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This introductory episode provides a brief overview of the supports that educators and families of young children can access within the disability system. There are many parts to the system, and we will highlight several of the touchpoints teachers find most valuable. Join us as we:

Highlight strategies for conducting conversations with families about concerns.
Explain what the referral and evaluation processes entail.
Provide a glimpse into goal setting during Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) and Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings.
Show examples of what special education services look like for children ages birth to 5.
Share tips for collaborating with service providers and therapists.

Watch the Season 3 Overview Episode now!

Bonus Videos!

Take a look at the two bonus resources below for an inside peek into IFSP and IEP meetings.

Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)

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Individualized Education Program (IEP)

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Helpful Resources

This episode covers several services available for supporting children with disabilities and their families.

Gears of Support

Gears of Supports shows families, children, and teachers interacting together through the various spokes in the special education system. Please explore the resources!

3 gears together called special education system supports, famiy and child, and teacher

Special Education System Gear Breakdown

A. Child Find

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Birth to 5: Watch Me Thrive!
A coordinated federal effort to encourage healthy child development, universal developmental and behavioral screening for children, and support for the families and providers who care for them.

Overview to Child Find & Early Identification
This page from the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center summarizes the regulations for Child Find for Part C & B.

B. Referral + C. Evaluation

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Evaluating Children for Disability
This site details comprehensive resources on the evaluation process.

Understanding the Special Education Process
This overview page features a flow chart showing what happens from referral to completion of an IEP.

Tips for Talking with Parents about Developmental Concerns
This resource from the Center for Disease Control, has tips and examples for talking with families about developmental concerns.

Building Relationships with Families
A module from SpecialQuest with training materials on preparing for conversations with families.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Sec. 300.8 Child with a disability
A useful link to the disability categories identified in the current IDEA law.

D. Development of IEP/IFSP + E. Annual Review

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15 min Inclusion: IEP Basics
This page from the Head Start Center for Inclusion, includes a PowerPoint and a video presentation, IEP meeting videos, parents’ guide to the IEP process, helpful resources, supervisor’s tools, tips for educators, and guides on leading, participating, and setting up an IEP meeting.

PACER Center IFSP page
Here is detailed information about each part of the IFSP process, from who will be at the meeting to transition planning and annual reviews.

What is the difference between an IFSP and an IEP?
This PACER Center document provides a side-by-side comparison of both plans.

F. Implementation & Placement

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Placement, Short-and-Sweet
This site provides questions and answers about the placement process, including further links to extensive information on Least Restrictive Environment (LRE).

Providing Early Intervention Services in Natural Environments
This Highly Rated Resource focuses on questions such as What is, and isn’t, considered a natural environment? and then connecting you with additional information and best-practice resources.

Services for Children Who Do Not Qualify Under IDEA
This page provides information on what educators can do for children who still need supports but do not qualify for special education services under IDEA.

G. Services

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Teaching Practices: Head Start Center for Inclusion
This website offers many resources for teachers, disabilities coordinators, supervisors, coaches, and trainers that support learning about inclusion and strategies to increase access and participation for children with disabilities.

Teaching Practices: Highly Individualized Teaching and Learning
These 15-minute In-service suites are a valuable training resource for educators seeking to learn more about how to support children with disabilities in early learning environments.

Collaboration: The Special Quest Multimedia Training Library
This library offers an entire volume on collaborating with partners. The Collaboration and Teaming volume contains six in-depth sessions that originally made up 3 days’ worth of training. It is a process that, with willing partners, can dramatically alter relationships with those partners. The sessions include Creating Bright Futures, Steps to Collaborative Services, Building Collaborative Relationships, Building Effective Teams, Elements of Team Functioning, and Enhancing Team Functioning.

H. Advocacy & Resources

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Center for Parent Information & Resources
Is a national website that pulls resources and information from multiple parent centers across the country. Extensive resources and supports for families of children with disabilities can be found here.

Family Rights, Privacy, Procedural Safeguards and Compliant Resolution Under IDEA
This site provides several links to resources about the rights of parents in the special education process.

Wright’s Law
This site is a hub of information about special education law and advocacy for children with disabilities. It includes access to cases and advocacy trainings.

TRANSLATION NOTE: Please be aware that there might be slight discrepancies and minor differences between the posted, printed, or electronic text in English and the corresponding Spanish translation, due to the editing and updating of the different versions.

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