Current state of inclusion of children with special needs in child care programmes in one Canadian province

Lesley Wiart, Heather Kehler, Gwen Rempel, Suzanne Tough

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Articlepeer-review

    5 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Background: Access to quality child care is an important support for families with children with disabilities. The objectives of this study were to determine: (1) the current state of inclusion of children with special needs in child care programmes, and (2) the presence of child care staff practices and programme characteristics that support inclusion. Methods: Mail survey. Results: Centre based day care programmes (n = 318) and family day home agencies (n = 25) responded to the survey (47% response rate). Participants reported positive attitudes towards the philosophy of inclusion; however, 36% of the centre-based programmes and 29% of the family day home agencies that had been contacted by families of children with special needs did not accept them into care. A significant proportion of centre-based programmes (36%) and family day home agencies (40%) were unaware of how to access specialised support services for the children in their programmes. Many programmes (i.e. 54% of centre-based programmes and 96% of family day homes) reported they were not physically accessible. Conclusions: Child care providers require improved access to supports to increase their capacity to provide child care for children with special needs.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)345-358
    Number of pages14
    JournalInternational Journal of Inclusive Education
    Volume18
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2014

    Keywords

    • Canada
    • Child care
    • Disabilities
    • Early learning and care
    • Special needs

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