Limited representation of individuals with disabilities in early childhood classes: alarming or status quo?

ABSTRACT

UNICEF’s new Millennium Development Goals and Beyond (2015. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/) focus on the needs of the largest marginalised minority, individuals with disabilities, challenging us to examine issues related to exclusion and develop strategies for making an authentic sense of belonging and high-quality early childhood education a reality for over 93 million children with disabilities (United Nations Children’s Fund. 2006. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=150). A first step in addressing stigma and the exclusion of individuals with disabilities is to examine materials in environments, given that positive representation in books and media contributes to a sense of belonging, increased self-esteem, and greater understanding of and attitudes towards others. Historically, the portrayal of individuals with disabilities in the literature and media has been absent or negative while the number of children with disabilities in early childhood classes has steadily increased. In this study, the representation of individuals with disabilities in school materials was examined in 32 kindergarten classes using the Inventory of Disability Representation (Favazza, P. C., and S. L. Odom. 1997. “Promoting Positive Attitudes of Kindergarten-Age Children Toward People with Disabilities.” Exceptional Children 63: 405–418). Two classrooms (6%) had moderate representation, 22 classrooms (69%) had low representation, and 8 classrooms (25%) had no representation of disabilities. Implications for practice and research are presented in light of the current focus on disability rights and becoming a more inclusive society.

KEYWORDS:

• Individuals with disabilities
• media
• inclusion
• attitudes
• sense of belonging

Acknowledgement

The contents of this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the official views or endorsement by the funding agency.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Paddy C. Favazza, Ed.D., is a Senior Research Fellow of Early Childhood Special Education at the Institute for Community Inclusion at the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development, at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her research focuses on early attitude development with implications for a curricular intervention related to social inclusion of children with disabilities. She is a professor, former Senior Fulbright Scholar to Romania and former teacher of young children with disabilities. She is committed to development of tools and curricula that possess sound theoretical underpinnings and rigorous research, co-authoring the Acceptance Scale for Kindergarten - Revised, Inventory of Disability Representation, CASPER, Special Friends, Making Friends, Young Athletes Curriculum, CHAMPPS and numerous publications for researchers and teachers.

Michaelene M. Ostrosky, Ph.D., is a Professor and former Head of the Department of Special Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Throughout her career, she has been involved in research and dissemination on inclusion and the acceptance of children with disabilities, social emotional competence, social interaction interventions, and challenging behavior. She is a former editor of DEC's practitioner journal, Young Exceptional Children (YEC), and the co-editor of several YEC monographs. In addition to more than 100 book chapters and peer-reviewed articles, she co-authored the Making Friends book (2016), highlighting strategies to support the acceptance of children with disabilities in inclusive kindergarten-2nd grade classrooms.

Lori E. Meyer, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at the University of Vermont. She is dedicated to investigating early childhood practices and curricula that increase the belonging and membership of children with disabilities within inclusive classroom environments. She is the co-editor of Environment: Promoting Meaningful Access, Participation, and Inclusion, the second publication in the DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series.

SeonYeong Yu, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her educational background and research focus on early childhood special education with a particular interest in social emotional competence, inclusion, and acceptance of peers with disabilities. As a former teacher of young children with disabilities, she is committed to increasing the use of evidence-based practices in the field of early childhood special education and translating research into practice.

Chryso Mouzourou, Ph.D., is Senior Research Associate in the Department of Human Sciences, at The Ohio State University. Her background and research include exploring perspectives on disabilities within communities, including families and schools, peer relationships, and children’s perspectives about disabilities. As a former teacher of children with diverse abilities, she is dedicated to ensuring that practitioners have access to best practices for children and their families and that her writing and teaching reflect understanding of current research and practice.

Additional information

Funding

This work was made possible by grant R324A080071 from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.