Action for Integration

(The following is excerpted from a summary prepared by the Roeher Institute, based on research undertaken by SpeciaLink and funded by the National Welfare Grants Division and the Disabled Persons Unit of Health and Welfare Canada.)

"When we were approached about a child with ’special needs,’ I didn’t think we had the moral right to turn him down. There was a ’presumption of inclusion,’ that said to me that the burden of proof was on the excluder to justify the exclusion, not on the child and family to prove worthiness."
-- A director

Why is it important to ensure children with disabilities are fully included in quality programs in community child care centres?

Childhood experiences, both good and bad, are a major influence on the way we live as adults. If children see a world that excludes some people, that is how they will understand the world. It is not surprising then that segregated children become segregated adults. Children are far more tolerant of differences and willing to accept others. When the children in integrated systems grow up, they will be less likely to tolerate the segregation and discrimination that exist now.

Integration should begin as early as possible, preferably at the beginning of a person’s life.

For the children with disabilities, integration effects positive change in social skills and enhanced self-esteem. It creates an identity as a child rather than as a "handicapped child." Integrated day care increases the probability that they will have friendships with typically developing children.

It increases the sensitivity of typically developing children and staff towards children with disabilities, creating a positive experience for everyone.

It has an impact on the education system. Parents will naturally expect that their children will go to their neighbourhood school with the other kids from day care.

If children with disabilities were present in day care centres in the same proportions as they are present in their communities, they would comprise 10 to 15% of all children in child care centres. The reality is that they are significantly under-represented.

What is full mainstream day care?

Mainstream day care is based on the principle that the basic needs of children are universal. These include the need to be accepted and valued, and to have opportunities to learn and explore in a safe environment. It is only the specific interventions to meet an individual child’s needs and ensure the same opportunities for all children that are different. Therefore, an inclusive day care is one that accepts all children, despite individual need. The inclusive centre then meets those needs within the context of the regular day care routine.

Not every day care can have all the elements of a fully inclusive environment. However, the more every day care works to implement as many elements as possible, the more all children will benefit from the resulting inclusive and accepting environment.

There are five criteria for full mainstream day care:
1. It includes children with disabilities in the same proportion as they occur naturally in the general population.
2. It includes children regardless of type or level of disability.
3. It includes the same option of "full working day" attendance for children with disabilities as for other children.
4. It includes strategies, resources and equipment to allow meaningful participation for all children.
5. It confronts exclusionary policies and addresses access issues, such as transportation, funding and therapies.

What are the factors behind successful, high quality, full mainstream day care?

Many factors come together to make inclusive child care possible. It is rare that all factors are evident in each centre practising mainstreaming. However, the lessons drawn from these exceptional practices and programs are useful for identifying and promoting a climate that supports mainstreaming. The more these factors are created and assured, the greater the opportunities for all children with disabilities to participate in high quality child care programs. The search for and investigation of 10 successful and innovative mainstream day care sites revealed that they share many underlying similarities.

The Program
- Successful programs are driven by a vision. They display a coherent philosophical commitment to mainstreaming. This vision is usually driven by the board or by the centre’s director and often arises from previous experience with advocacy and human rights struggles.
- Many programs have had to create unique financial arrangements with their provinces or regions.
- Many have developed or replicated unique resources, procedures and strategies for solving site-specific problems.

The Directors/Supervisors
- Directors of successful centres tend to take an entrepreneurial approach to funding and services, seeking sources outside regular operational categories. Directors of some centres say there are insufficient resources to include children with disabilities. Directors of integrated settings develop creative strategies.
- Many directors are well connected in their communities. They are board and committee members of a range of related services.
- Most directors or supervisors have been involved in their centres for at least 10 years.
- Many directors who brought an entrepreneurial spirit to their centres moved on to lead more complex agencies or structures.
- Most directors have weathered at least one major integration crisis, and developed both policies and procedures to limit further crises.

The Staff
- These successful centres experience very little staff turnover, in comparison with typical child care programs in Canada.
- Staff hiring procedures address values and flexibility, more than professional credentials.

The Location
- Successful mainstream centres are in urban and suburban locations; in rented, owned, leased buildings; in designated-for-purpose buildings; in school classrooms; in old stores; and with capacities varying from 35 to 100 spaces.

How can we make full mainstream day care more common?

High quality full mainstream day care is possible. It is best promoted and supported when the following are in place:

At The Centre
- Ideally, the physical space has been adapted, modified or designed from scratch.
- Special equipment and materials have been integrated into the entire program.
- The director advocates in the centre and the community for high quality day care for all children.
- The staffing levels for consultative assistance and staff/child ratios are flexible to respond to the individual child’s needs.
- At least one worker is fully trained in "special needs." Almost all staff has some training in "special needs." In-service training is also ongoing.
- Therapies (physiotherapy/occupational therapy/speech and language therapy/ behaviour therapy) are all provided in regular group settings, with goals and follow-up developed collaboratively by staff, parents and therapists.
- Individual program plans are used in regular group settings where pull-outs are rare. Plans are developed collaboratively by a resource teacher/consultant, staff and parents.
- Parents are active in decision making at the centre and play an advocacy role in the community.
- Social integration is always facilitated.
- The board of directors advocates in the community for high quality day care for all children.
- The centre collaborates on a plan and process for the child’s transition to school and advocates for optimal school placement.

Public Policy and Practice
- If Canada had an accessible, comprehensive, high quality, well funded day care system, many barriers to integration would disappear. More day care spaces, better training, better funding and higher standards would create a more positive climate for integration.
- Day care integration could be addressed through legislation which gave public funds only if centres set aside 10% of spaces for children with disabilities.
- Successful mainstreaming programs identify the supervisor/director as the key figure. Targeting them and enhancing that role (bringing them together for think tank sessions, networking, leadership development and to train other practitioners) could move things forward.
- The reality of mainstreaming could be demonstrated by building on successful programs. They can be recognized, promoted and used for training (classroom and internships for potential leaders), visitations and resources.
- Evaluating and distributing quality resources, products and research would be useful for public awareness and training staff. Support -- opportunities for networking, and seed money for start-up costs -- would enable other centres to replicate innovative programs.
- Cross-disciplinary training and information sharing between child care organizations and advocacy organizations would begin the collaboration that must be attained in mainstream settings.
- Supporting the parents’ role as advocates for their children and as consultants and trainers in mainstream day care initiatives would move the issue forward.
- The lessons and the skills of those exceptional people already practising integration could form a foundation for promoting a social climate supportive of mainstreaming.
- Finally, standard, accepted policy is needed. Only then would it be truly possible to provide fair and equal access to Canadian day care for young children with disabilities.