Inclusive Education in Early Childhood

Running head: INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
Introduction
Individual education plan (IEP) is a programme devised for children with special needs to help them through their early phase of
acquiring education. It is devised to identify the child’s issues that could potentially hamper their early education and help strategize various
approaches that can be employed to overcome the problem especially in the pre K stage (Minervino, 2014). The plan records the child’s
strengths, weaknesses and interests that they engage with on a daily basis. Based on that data, the IEP helps structure goals and strategies for
the child to be engaged in the least restrictive environment possible (Yell, Conroy & Katsiyannis, 2013).
The IEP provided here focuses on a 4-year-old child with Auditory Processing Issues. Based on observation data from the ELC, the
IEP is constructed keeping in mind her specific needs, how they can be fulfilled by specific activities that pertain to her strength and interest
and by including her peers from the ELC, an overall development can be observed. Inclusivity of all children is a key factor since it helps
them develop positive social-emotional skills (including social relationships), acquire and use knowledge and skills (including early
language/communication and early literacy skills), use appropriate behaviours to meet their own needs (e.g., adaptive or self-help skills.)
(Henninger & Gupta, 2014).

2INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
Understanding the child
Child’s name: ___________________________________________________________ Date ....../....../......
Child’s Strengths – Child is observant and patient with her observations. She is also very tolerant as evidenced by her issues with communication.
Community engagement is an important strength in the child as she would actively ask for aid from her peers in the room. Memory functions are
high as she was able to recall an interesting activity from her memory and replicate that at the ELC. Strategic in her approach, she uses a lot of trial
and error methods to overcome the issues she faces during creative tasks. She engages in active learning by exploring the surroundings for
necessary materials, asking for aid from peers and teachers and self-reflection (Dettmer et al., 2013). Even while engaging with her peers, she was
able to express the motive behind and purpose of her activity and did not get upset when someone failed to understand her. The child’s day-to-day
activity is heavily influenced by a consistent pattern in her lifestyle. The child indicates a strong desire to be close friends with specific people. She
relies on tactile feedback and is particularly keen about visual stimuli as well. She is imaginative and innovative and although at first finds working
with certain craft materials difficult, eventually figures out a way to express her ideas through them. She has strong understanding of emotional
states and was able to identify and express through drawing, certain facial features which are correlated with the particular emotion. The child
maintains a positive relationship with her parents and sister at home which complements special education (Blackwell & Rosetti, 2014). She likes
sharing her toys with her sister and playing made up games. She understands her sense of authority as she sets the rules for the games. She is also
very compassionate and protective towards her sister. She does not have trouble communicating with adults. She has good understanding of verbal
and nonverbal communication. She prefers her day to be filled with a variety of activities as long as they are pre-determined and recapitulated by

3INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
her parents. She likes structure but dislikes monotony. She does not feel uncomfortable playing alone if the surrounding makes her feel secure, but
can also blend in with people and make friends.
Child’s Interests - The child has an active personality with keen interests in imaginative role-plays, sports, dance (ballet) and art. Her interest in
the sports complex of her future school, especially gymnastics, shows positive leaning towards physical activities. She prefers her day to be filled
with a variety of tasks as long as they are pre-determined and recapitulated by her parents. She likes structure but dislikes monotony. She is also
interested in imaginative tasks like handicrafts, role-play games and story building. She also has keen interests in learning new things. Visual media
plays an important role in her daily lifestyle. Taking active part in communicating with people and engaging in question-response also shows
interest towards active language usage (Boyd, Schryer & Ng, 2015).