Project Support: Early Childhood Inclusion Support Consultation Project Set

The Project Support training model and materials are designed for early childhood inclusion support specialists and developed to achieve successful inclusion experiences for young children particularly those whose special needs are complex and challenging.

As a result of amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) increasingly infants and toddlers with disabilities are served in non-special education settings. This requires a major shift in the roles and responsibilities of professionals and in how early intervention and special education services are delivered. This shift also increases the responsibility of childcare workers and early childhood educators for the early care and education of young children with significant needs and challenges.

Early childhood educators are being called on to provide support for toddler and preschool age children placed in community group care settings such as childcare and Head Start. This training model reflects the belief that supporting very young children in inclusive group settings requires carefully planned support provided by individuals with specific expertise in early childhood special education and collaborative consultation.

Project Support, federally funded OSEP project, includes the following resources:

• Handbook: A Practical Guide for Early Childhood Inclusion Support Providers (309 pages on CD-ROM) 
• Inservice Training Manual: A Guide to Implementing the Three Phases of Inclusion Support Inservice Training for Early Childhood Special Educators (37 pages on CD-ROM) 
• Project Support: Preservice Supplement (153 pages printed)
• Coteaching (12 min. DVD) 
• Itinerant Consultation (11 min. DVD)
• Problem Solving and Conflict Resolution (24 min. DVD) 

Available As: DVD and CD-ROM with Supplemental Manual
Developed By: M. Diane Klein Anne Marie Richardson-Gibbs Sharon Kilpatrick and Kathleen C. Harris