Inclusion

Abstract

One of the first early intervention programs developed in the 1970s at Peabody College used an inclusive approach by combining infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children with and without disabilities. The first section of this article reviews three salient issues faced by the staff of this early program: recruitment of children, delivery of developmentally appropriate services, and relative lack of barriers to inclusion. In the second section, successes of this early program are juxtaposed with issues faced by contemporary early intervention approaches to inclusion. The final section suggests a refocusing of inclusion efforts in three areas: assuring that inclusion benefits all children and families, improving understanding of which strategies and procedures work and which do not, and improving the clarity of outcomes for individual children who participate in inclusion programs.