Early Childhood Special Education and Assistive Technology Blog

Betsy Humphreys talks about her perspective on inclusive early childhood education. Watch and keep visiting our blog for more videos from professors and community members invested in early childhood. Perspectives on Leadership in Early Childhood Education - Part 1 from ec seat on Vimeo .

Summary and Notes written by: Carrie Portrie, M.Ed, EC-SEAT Project Coordinator On September 14th, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education released a policy statement on inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs. The executive summary begins by identifying three landmark celebrations this year: 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Act 40th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 50th anniversary of Head Start and states: "All three efforts have been transformative in ensuring equal opportunity for all Americans. While tremendous progress has been made, the anniversaries of these laws are cause for reflection on the work that lies ahead" The joint policy notes a lag in inclusive opportunities for children as troubling and lists the following reasons: "Being meaningfully included as a member of society is the first step to equal opportu...

Written by: Lauren Pasquazzi, Early Childhood Educator and EC-SEAT scholar  This summer I took an Assistive Technology class with Dr. Therese Willkomm. I was able to understand how to work with many different materials to help people with disabilities. In the class, we had to do a project where we create an assistive technology for someone with a disability. I worked with my brother for this project. I created a way for my brother to write without becoming frustrated because the pencil was too small for him to grip. I took Instamorph and was able to form it around the pencil so that my brother felt comfortable. From this project, I learned about working with someone and making sure that the assistive technology is the right fit. Instead of just assuming that this is what my brother wanted, we discussed options together and tried different ways to hold the pencil with the Instamorph . At the end, not only did I feel accomplished, but I think my brother did too because he ...