Social inclusion in the early years 59In inclusive early childhood settings, children with disabilities have experienced
positive growth in social skills, adaptive behaviors, literacy and language skills,
and cognition (Green, Patton Terry and Gallagher, 2014; Justice, Logan, Lin and
Kodaravek, 2014; Nahmias, Kase and Mandell, 2004; Odom, 2000; Rafferty, Piscitelli
and Boettcher, 2003; Strain and Bovey, 2011). These varied positive gains have also
generalized to other environments and maintained across multiple years for young
children with disabilities (Strain, 2014; Strain and Hoyson, 2000). Perhaps most sig-
nificantly, research has shown that early childhood inclusion offers young children
with disabilities access to peer models and the opportunity to form friendships
with children without disabilities (Buysse, Goldman, and Skinner, 2002; Odom
et al., 2006).
Implementing high-quality social inclusion
There is a growing body of evidence in the early childhood and early childhood
special education field that outlines the practices that promote optimal child out-
comes. Practitioners can use the DEC Recommended Practices (DEC, 2014) to
guide their efforts to provide young children with disabilities inclusive learning
opportunities that promote their development. A number of these recommended
and evidence-based practices are described in the following sections that outline
five key components of high-quality social inclusion. These critical components
include: (a) goal setting and planning learning opportunities; (b) incorporating all
young children in the classroom; (c) utilizing tiered models of support; (d) mea-
suring and assessing inclusion; and (e) training competent classroom teams and
staff. In combination, these practices work to create a socially inclusive setting
for all children, and more specifically, provide multiple learning opportunities for
children with ASD to learn and practice social interaction skills with same-age
peers.
Goal setting and planning learning opportunities
Important goals to consider when planning learning opportunities for young chil-
dren with disabilities are those that involve their social development and social
competence (Strain, 2014). The importance of social competence for young chil-
dren is highlighted in the EI/ECSE literature, and the DEC/NAEYC (2009)
position statement on early childhood inclusion specifies that the development of
friendships is an important goal for young children with disabilities to achieve in
their inclusive placements. To assess child social competence and to determine child
progress, it is recommended that inclusive programs consider functional goals that
are relevant for all young children (e.g., how many friends a child has) to determine
the extent to which a young child with a disability is fully included in the class-
room and also to track how well he/she is developing socially (Buysse, Goldman
and Skinner, 2002).