Barriers and facilitators in inclusive daycare facilities: mothers’ perspectives

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is the analysis of barriers and facilitators to enroling children with disabilities in inclusive daycare facilities. Data were gathered from nine (N = 9) mothers of children with diverse developmental disabilities who were admitted to inclusive daycare centres in Paris, France. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed using the Inductive Thematic Analysis (Braun and Clarke [2006. “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology.” Qualitative Research in Psychology 3 (2): 77–101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa]). The emerging themes related to barriers were: lack of inclusive practice training, perceived attitudes towards disability, daycare centre’s directors’ reluctance, and wider challenges on a community level. Facilitators included having a regular contact person, staff training, space adjustment of the daycare facility and adaptive equipment, inclusive daycare centre’s project, getting and sharing information. Finally, further implications for practice and research are proposed.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusion
• barriers
• facilitators
• daycare centers
• mothers
• preschool age
• early childhood
• children with disabilities

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank all the mothers who participated in this study and shared their experiences with us. We would also like to thank the daycare centres who accepted to participate in this study and put us in contact with the families.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest

Notes

1 In France, participants are questioned as to their nationality. It is prohibited by law to ask participants as per their ethnic origins.

2 MDPH = Maisons Départementales des Personnes Handicapées = Departmental Centres for Persons with Disabilities. These Centres have as a mission to inform, support and advise persons with disabilities and their families, as well as to raise awareness of disability among citizens.

3 In France, a Centre for Early Medical and Social Action is social or medical and social service for screening, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and follow-up of children with disabilities from 0 to 6 years. http://anecamsp.org. The Service of Mother-Infant Protection is a departmental service, under the authority of the President of the Departmental Council and responsible for ensuring the health protection of the mother and the child. Consultations and medical prevention are provided to pregnant women and children under the age of six. It also plays an essential role in the provision of care for young children: instruction in applications for the approval of nursery assistants, implementation of training measures; supervision of childcare providers and child care services for children under six years of age. https://drees.solidarites-sante.gouv.fr

 

Additional information

Funding

This research is funded by the International Foundation of Applied Research in Handicap (FIRAH, APa2017_003), the Scientific Research Group (GIS) BECO and the Research Development Unit of the University Toulouse II-Jean Jaurès (Rd2018-58).

Notes on contributors

Flora Koliouli

Flora Koliouli is a Post-doctorate researcher in Psychology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Toulouse II-Jean Jaurès (France), where she worked as an Adjunct Lecturer for three consecutive years. Then, she worked as a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, where she participated in the project ‘Supporting daycare admission for children with developmental disabilities - SO'IN’.

Stéphanie Pinel-Jacquemin

Stéphanie Pinel-Jacquemin is a psychologist. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Toulouse Ii-Jean Jaurès (France), and she obtained the accreditation to supervise research. She is a Research Associate in the National Center of Demographic Studies, and she works on the ‘Life Cycle-Early Life stressors and Life Cycle Health’ project (INED, Paris, France).

Chantal Zaouche Gaudron

Chantal Zaouche Gaudron is a Professor of Child Psychology at the University of Toulouse II-Jean Jaurès, France. She is head of the scientific team ‘Infants and Young Children in Contexts’ (BECO) (France). Her research interests include early child development, the role of the family, and the impact of the different contexts in which the child grows up.