A child’s first relationships develop from birth through early-established social
interactions with caregivers. These first relationships are necessary for survival
and form the basis for later social-emotional growth and development. Healthy
social-emotional development allows children to develop and maintain recipro-
cal and trusting relationships with others, effectively communicate, identify and
manage emotions, play and learn from their environment (Zero to Three, 2014).
Generally speaking, children who are typically developing learn and develop these
social and emotional skills without systematic supports.
For children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), these early
social-emotional skills may not develop even when in supportive environments
with nurturing relationships. For individuals with ASD, social-emotional devel-
opment is delayed, and in fact, deficits in this domain are required for a diag-
nosis of ASD. Furthermore, when these early relationships do not develop in a
socially acceptable manner, the deficits continue to increase and early interven-
tion becomes vital for diminishing the effects of these deficits through targeted
instruction in social-emotional skills and competencies. In order for young chil-
dren with ASD to learn and practice these skills and develop competence and
fluency in the social-emotional domain, they need to be included with typi-
cally developing peers in supportive environments with nurturing relationships
(Strain, 2014).
As with any skill, be it in sports or a specific occupation, learning and practicing
the skills in the environment in which those skills will be used is essential. Isolating
or excluding young children with ASD from their typically developing peers will
only serve to exacerbate their deficits in social-emotional development (Strain,
2014). The natural environment provides limitless natural occasions for encounter-
ing typical social interactions that can be used as learning opportunities. For young
5
SOCIAL INCLUSION IN THE
EARLY YEARS
Janice K. Lee, Jaclyn Joseph, Phillip Strain and Glen Dunlap