Child care for special needs near me: Day Care and Respite for Children with Special Needs

Finding Child Care for Your Child With Special Needs

August 4, 2021

If you have a child with special needs, your child care search will not only include finding a safe and quality setting but also ensuring that the caregivers meet the unique needs of your child.

The following steps compiled by Child Care Aware of America can get you started on your search:

1. Think About Your Child Care Needs
   • What kind of setting do you feel your child will thrive in? Are you looking for a provider who has specific experience with disabled children? What hours will you need care?
2. Get a List of Child Care Programs
   • Contact our 4C for Children Family & Community Services Specialists at 800-256-1296 x1330, [email protected] or visit 4cforchildren.org/families/find-child-care/. We can compile a personalized list of child care providers who have openings and are able to care for your child and meet their unique needs. We can take the time to ask providers of their experience with serving children with disabilities or who have an IEP or 504 plan through their school. We will also help you narrow down your search to a small number of programs to tour and help ensure a program is a good fit for your family and your child.
3. Do Your Homework
   • Research the programs on your list from 4C to learn more about them before you contact them.
4. Make the Call
   • Call the programs and talk with them about your child.
5. Take a Tour
   • Get a feel for the program environment, whether it is a virtual or in-person tour, and see if it will be a positive experience for your child.
6. Make the Choice
   • You are your child’s first teacher, and their best advocate. Choose the place that you feel is the best fit to partner with your family in your child’s early years. Once you make your choice, stay in open communication with your provider as you work together to prepare your child for success in school and life.

Download this brochure to read the full details and for a checklist of questions to ask as you meet with child care programs.

Community Support for Children With Disabilities

The following organizations and local events can help connect your family with the support that you need:

• Early Childhood Special Needs Resource Directory from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
• Family Support Resource Directory from Dayton Children’s Hospital
• Pause for Parents, Play for Kids

Parenting Support for Children With Disabilities

Here are some additional resources to help support your family.

• I am concerned about my child’s development. Who do I talk to about my worries? From ZERO TO THREE
• Finding Respite Care for Your Child With Special Needs, from kidshealth. org
• Back-to-School Tips for Parents of Children with Special Needs, from Reading Rockets
• Preventing Exclusion and Expulsion from Child Care Programs, from childcare.gov
• Tiered Online Training and Support Paid Research Study – for family caregivers children age 2 -6 with Intellectual or Developmental Disability in Ohio, from Center on Brain Injury Research & Training

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Categories: 4C for Children, Families

Child Care for Children with Special Needs – The Arc Prince George’s County, Maryland

A good childcare provider will be licensed, trained in child development, and have experience with children. A childcare provider with knowledge about child development is more able to assist children in exploring their environment, which in turn enhances children’s learning, self-esteem, social skills, and language skills.

In addition to the resources listed below, The Arc of Prince George’s County’s Infants and Toddlers program may be able to assist with locating additional resources. Please call 301-925-7050 for information and referral.

The Arc-Northwestern Child Care Partnership
7000 Adelphi Road
Hyattsville MD 20782
301-985-1820, x 84727 or x84668
Offers child care for children with special needs, ages weeks months to five years, in an inclusive environment will a full nursing staff. Excellent caregiver. For more information contact Becky Carter at 301-322-8306.

Family Networks-Child Care Resources
http://family-networks.org/childcare.cfm
Provides a wealth of information and links to resources that assist in finding quality childcare for children with disabilities. Find links to the Maryland Committee for Children, which provides statewide information on locating childcare, and find information on The Maryland Child Care Resources Network as well as the Mother-Helper online resource site.

Locate: Child Care Special Needs Enhanced Services
9475 Lottsford Road, Suite 202
Landover, MD 20785
301-772-8415
www. childresource.org
Provides free resource/referral service for parents with children who have special needs.

Maryland Committee for Children 
410-752-7588
www.mdchildcare.org
Works with parents, childcare providers, advocates, employers, and policymakers to expand and enhance the early childhood education and child care available to Maryland’s children.

Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Kid Care After-School Program
301-454-1480
www.pgparks.com

Project Act
Abilities Network
410-828-7700
A collaborative program for childcare professionals and parents on how to successfully include children who have physical and/or developmental disabilities into community settings.

Rainbow Child Care Center
301-262-9797
8921 Race Track Road
Bowie, Maryland 20715
Offers an inclusive program for children of multiple need and ability levels. Open 6:30am-6pm, and serving children ages six months to 12 years.

Smilin’ Faces
240-462-1008
After-school program especially for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ages 8 to 21.

Southern Maryland Child Care Resource Center
301-290-0040
866-290-0040 (toll free)
Provides assistance in locating a childcare provider.

Note: These providers are not endorsed or approved by The Arc of Prince George’s County. This contact information is provided as a service; families must determine for themselves if these providers are able to support the needs of their family member(s).

what should a teacher do? — NGO helping children with ASD “Contact”

July 31, 2018

This article is a practice-oriented guide for subject teachers and class teachers who have a child with special educational needs. It deals with the issues of legal regulation of inclusive education, the practical organization of work with a child, as well as complex issues of interaction between a teacher and other employees of an educational institution and its administration. .

The issues of organizing inclusive education within the framework of the existing legal regulation are among the most complex and confusing. Here educational, administrative, budgetary, labor law merge together, giving rise to many contradictions relative to each other. In this article, we will try to explain in simple terms the most difficult issues that a teacher may face in the process of organizing an inclusive environment in an educational institution.

1. Who are children with SEN, children with disabilities and children with disabilities?

Federal Law No. 273-FZ “On Education in the Russian Federation”, Article 2, Clause 16: “a student with disabilities is an individual with disabilities in physical and (or) psychological development, confirmed by the psychological, medical and pedagogical commission and hindering education without creating special conditions.

The concept of “child with special educational needs” is used in modern scientific research and some legislations of foreign countries as a more modern and accurate analogue of a child with disabilities.

Disability is not always associated with disabilities in the understanding of the Federal Law “On Education”. Inclusive education is the education of a child who has special educational needs due to the peculiarities of his health in a general education institution. Not all children with disabilities need special accommodations.

Accordingly, for the purposes of inclusive education in modern Russia, the term child or student with disabilities (a child with disabilities) is important.

2. What is the basis for creating a special educational environment for a child with disabilities?

The main document that educational institutions should be guided by when working within the framework of inclusion is the conclusion of the psychological, medical and pedagogical commission. It is this document that determines what conditions must be created at the school in order for the child’s education to meet federal standards. The conclusion of the psychological-medical-pedagogical commission is obligatory for acceptance by any educational institutions. Creating the necessary working conditions is the duty of any school.

3. Who is involved in creating and organizing an inclusive environment?

Contrary to popular belief among educators, inclusive education does not simply mean the inclusion of a child with disabilities in a class with a teacher’s load of huge additional responsibility. This is a whole range of measures related to the creation of an inclusive environment, in which a large number of specialists participate.

The first group of employees of educational institutions involved in the creation of an inclusive environment are the actual teaching staff. These include subject teachers, primary school teachers and tutors. Their main task is to organize the actual training sessions, develop materials and work programs.

The second group are support workers. First of all, they are assistants. Their task is to physically help a child with disabilities in overcoming the difficulties of the environment where he studies.

The third group is specialized workers. These are various teachers and doctors who work with specific skills required in the educational process and health characteristics: psychologists, speech therapists, defectologists.

Thus, the creation of an inclusive environment in an educational institution does not imply the transfer of all work to one particular teacher. It is also necessary to include other specialists in the work, who should jointly participate in such a complex process, sharing duties and responsibilities among themselves.

4. What are the limits of a teacher’s responsibility?

The legal basis for the duties of a teacher in the process of organizing inclusive education is the professional standard “Teacher”. It involves the following duties of a teacher:

• Development of an adapted general education program (together with a teacher-psychologist)
• Development of a work program in the subject, taking into account the individual characteristics of students with disabilities
• Adapting lessons and extracurricular activities to the needs of a particular child
• Selection of special adapted teaching aids for classes
• If necessary, the use of special technical means (if any in the educational institution)

Thus, the teacher’s area of ​​responsibility includes only the adaptation of their usual activities for the purposes of working with a child with disabilities. This includes not only changing the pedagogical methods themselves, but also adjusting tasks for children. Everything else that the school administration usually tries to supplement the standard workload of a teacher does not relate to his immediate duties.

5. What should a tutor do?

It is the tutor who is the most important guide for a child with disabilities to the world of an inclusive school. It bears the main burden associated with the problematic issues of adaptation of children in regular classes. His immediate responsibilities include:

• Identification of individual characteristics, interests, abilities, problems, difficulties of students in the education process
• Development of individual educational routes
• Adaptation of the educational process
• Designing an open educational environment
• Development and selection of teaching aids
• Reflection of the educational process by its participants

It is clearly seen that the development of individual educational routes, assistance to teachers in the preparation of classes, participation in the development of specialized methods is the key to the success of inclusion, especially considering that the workload of a tutor can be no more than 6 children per salary rate. He better understands the complexities and problems of those children with disabilities for whose educational process he is responsible.

6. What is the task of an assistant?

Assistants are auxiliary workers, however, they also bear a great responsibility for the adequate inclusion of children with disabilities in the educational process. They are largely responsible for the functions associated with physical assistance to children. Among other things, their duties include:

• Providing technical assistance to a child with disabilities (dressing, undressing, using cutlery, etc.)
• Comfort
• Maintenance of rehabilitation facilities
• Ensuring student access to infrastructure
• First aid, communication with medical professionals and legal representatives in emergency situations
• If necessary, transfer to the student of relevant information about the surrounding reality in an accessible form

As can be seen from the list of duties of an assistant, it is not the responsibility of the teacher to physically ensure the comfortable stay of a child with disabilities in an educational institution. He only has to control and lead the educational process itself. In turn, the assistant will help the child overcome the physical difficulties associated with studying in a regular school.

7. What is the role of defectologists?

When organizing an inclusive environment, one should not forget about professional specialized work with children. It is conducted by specialists of various profiles: psychologists, speech therapists and defectologists. The latter include, for example, deaf teachers, typhlopedagogues, oligophrenologists, etc. Their responsibilities include:

• Timely identification of children with disabilities
• Development of recommendations for corrective support
• Determination of the type of educational program and the variant of the provision of correctional assistance
• Lesson planning, individual and group remedial sessions
• Organizing an educational environment for persons with disabilities
• Organization of control over the development of educational programs

The activity of these specialists contributes to the adaptation of children in society, develops their social skills, which may have certain specifics due to their health. Without these specialists, the progressive effect of inclusive education will be much less noticeable, and the amount of additional effort expended by various workers to support the educational process of the child will remain at the same level throughout all the years of education.

8. What changes in working conditions follow the introduction of inclusive education?

Inclusive education involves a number of changes related to the working conditions of those workers who are involved in creating an environment for children with disabilities. These include reduced working hours: 36 hours – a teacher-psychologist, tutor; 20 hours – teacher-defectologist, teacher-speech therapist; 25 hours – educators caring for children with disabilities; 18 hours – speech therapists of medical organizations and social service organizations.

The organization of inclusive education requires changes in the composition of study groups. In preschool education, the number of students with disabilities in the study group is set to 15 people. A defectologist teacher (deaf teacher, typhlopedagogue) is determined for every 6-12 students with disabilities. Speech therapist teacher – for every 6-12 students with disabilities. Teacher-psychologist – for every 20 students with disabilities. Tutor, assistant (assistant) – for every 1-6 students with disabilities.

It is no secret that inclusive education requires significant additional costs, especially at the time of its creation. This is also due to the retraining and advanced training of employees, the purchase of additional special equipment, and the creation of a comfortable environment. In this regard, in paragraph 1.8 of the Guidelines for determining the standards for budget financing of basic general education programs, it is established that when determining the value of the coefficients, it is recommended to take into account the provision of education to children with disabilities.

Of course, the salary of the employee who works with a child with disabilities should be higher than that of his colleague who works with the ordinary class. Given the modern system of remuneration of the teaching staff, these issues are the responsibility of the educational organization itself, and not of higher state authorities. Through collective bargaining with the employer, teachers can influence the introduction of amendments to the collective agreement or the regulation on remuneration, the provision on incentives. Considering the fact that an increased per capita coefficient is allocated for children with disabilities in most regions, there should not be a financial issue for the employer, and he will most likely agree to increase the cost of paying an hour, or to provide additional incentives for teachers involved in organizing an inclusive environment .

9. What is the algorithm of the teacher’s actions when a child with a disability enters the class?

Step 1. If a child with disabilities was brought to your class, then you, as a teacher, can demand that your labor rights be observed and that suitable working conditions be created.

Step 2. Demand from the administration of the educational institution where you work, the conclusion of the psychological, medical and pedagogical commission, according to which the child was recognized as having a disability. Carefully familiarize yourself with his health features and the training conditions that are required.

Step 3. Find out if your class meets the norms for the number of children in connection with the arrival of a child with a disability. If there are more than the norm, demand either a reduction in the number of children in the class, or the placement of the child in another class.

Step 4. Find out which specialists will work with a child with disabilities and to what extent. Whether a tutor or assistant is indicated in the PMPK conclusion, and whether it will be provided to the child. If one of these specialists is required, but not provided, seek from the administration of the educational institution to provide the child with such a worker.

Step 5. Find out if your collective bargaining agreement, salary regulation, provision for incentive material rewards for working with children with disabilities. If not, then together with other teachers involved in the organization of an inclusive space, demand collective negotiations and changes in the collective agreement and other local regulations.

Step 6. Together with other specialists, a tutor, speech pathologists, think over a methodology for teaching a child with disabilities in an inclusive class. Based on these guidelines, tailor your work program and practice assignments.

Varlamov Yu.E. – Lawyer of MPRO “Teacher”.

A child with disabilities in a regular class: what you need to know

Miloserdiyu.ru was told how to prepare for the arrival of a child with special needs in the classroom Valentina Frolova , lawyer and consultant of the Perspektiva Regional Public Organization of Disabled People, and Ima Zakharova , defectologist at the Center for Curative Pedagogics.

“A school should not refuse to enroll a child with disabilities due to the lack of special conditions, the only legitimate reason for refusal is the lack of free places.

If the school accepts a child who, according to the conclusion of the PMPK, needs special conditions, the management has an obligation to create these conditions”, – says lawyer Valentina Frolova.

The legal framework for inclusion: from the Constitution to the Federal State Educational Standard

All the necessary conditions for the education of children with disabilities are spelled out in the documents.
First of all, this is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation , where it is established that everyone has the right to education. The same is provided for by UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities , ratified in our country in 2012.
In “Law on Education in the Russian Federation” mentions the inadmissibility of discrimination on the basis of disability and that the education of children with disabilities can be organized both jointly with other students, and in separate classes, groups or in organizations engaged in educational activities .
In Federal State Educational Standards (FGOS) for students with disabilities or intellectual disabilities, it is written what the program for children with various disabilities looks like and how education is individualized.
Specific conditions for an individual student are prescribed in the conclusion of the psycho-medical-pedagogical commission (PMPC) . The commission decides whether the child needs an adapted program, a tutor, an assistant, remedial classes and special textbooks.

Three things a teacher should know

1. If a child has behavioral problems, then his basic needs are not being met.

With some health conditions, the child cannot sit still and listen to the teacher, may behave too loudly or aggressively, walk around the classroom, knock on a chair or table, shout out some phrases. In this case, most likely, his basic needs are not satisfied, which must be closed for harmonious development.

There are several such needs: physical and emotional security, the need to be seen and appreciated, and the need to be efficient.

Without an inner sense of safety and security, the student will not be able to study in peace. Children with disabilities quickly lose their sense of comfort. The lack of security for them can be too large and complex task, too active environment, loud noises. All this causes a defensive reaction in the child, which is often expressed in aggressive behavior.

“If I feel insecure, physically or emotionally threatened, I cannot develop and learn. I need to feel comfortable on a physical, emotional and spiritual level. I need to know that if some situation causes my defensive reaction, someone will help me calm down, be there, console me, ”says teacher-defectologist Ima Zakharova.

Learning is difficult even if a person is not noticed and appreciated. When the elders do not recognize his abilities, do not praise him, the child feels lonely and abandoned. In this case, he tries to attract attention to himself through bad behavior.

If a child is not allowed to do what he likes, if tasks are set that do not correspond to his abilities and level of development, then his need for his own efficiency is not realized. A person does not feel competent, loses confidence in his abilities, and also behaves badly. Such problems of the student should be tried to be leveled or at least reduced.

2. There are criteria for a child’s readiness to learn in a group.

This is the ability to hold attention, to switch it from one object or process to another, to withstand the active environment of the group.

These criteria must be met in order for the student to enter the classroom and build relationships with classmates and the teacher.

For example, it is difficult for a child with autism spectrum disorder to get used to the activity around him, because he is used to relying on predictability and calmness. And in the classroom, where especially during the breaks there is noise, it becomes hard, and behavioral problems begin.

In order to fulfill these criteria, the child needs to go through a preparatory stage, when different specialists work with him: a neuropsychologist, defectologist, play teachers.

This stage before school is not quick, but necessary.

3. Some children need a tutor to join the class.

This is indicated in the conclusion of the PMPK. A tutor is a support person for a child. He can control the child’s attention, tell him where to look, whom to listen to, help him cope with tasks, he can take him out of the classroom to calm him down if the child begins to feel aggression or other emotions.

For a student to feel comfortable with a tutor, they must develop a relationship. To do this, before the child goes to school, he needs to meet and talk with the tutor several times. Usually 4-8 such meetings are enough.

If the school does not have such specialists – tutors, assistants, medical workers – they need to be hired. The teacher can contact the principal or school administration and ask that the matter be resolved as soon as possible. Even if the PMPK decides that the student does not need a tutor, but you as a teacher see the need for it, the school can provide an escort on its own initiative.

What the teacher will need to do

1. Before a child with disabilities comes to school, the class needs to be prepared for this.

Talk to the child’s family. If a student with disabilities comes to your class, you need to understand how ready he is for learning. It is important to talk with parents about the criteria for a child to be ready to enter the classroom. If he is not ready, then tell how long the preparatory period will take, what it looks like, what is needed for this. Find out if the student studied with specialists, if he has a tutor, or if the school should provide him.

Prepare parents of other children in the class. When parents learn that a child who is different from other children will come to their class, they begin to worry if this is dangerous and if their children will learn some negative things. The teacher himself, the school psychologist, the head teacher or the principal can talk to the parents.

“It is very important to talk to parents about the fact that the teacher or tutor knows what they are doing, how they will accompany the child. It is important that the parents talk about their fears, and the teacher or psychologist dispel them and make it clear that the situation is under control. It is necessary to explain what will happen if the child starts behaving aggressively, if something goes wrong,” notes Ima Zakharova.

In addition, when communicating with parents, it is important to say that all people have different abilities and abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and no one becomes less valuable because of this. Someone can jump high, someone is good at math, and someone has an excellent memory. This kid has his strengths too.

Talk to other students. Other children in the class also have experiences: they do not understand who will come to them, how to behave with him. So that they are not afraid of a person who is different from them, it is imperative to discuss the situation with them: tell them about the new student, who he is, where he comes from, how he differs, and how he is similar. If the child has an accompanying person, explain why an adult will sit in the classroom at a desk. The teacher needs to think about how to conduct the first acquaintance of children with a child with disabilities and a tutor – at a break or in a lesson.

Take into account all requirements in the PMPK conclusion and discuss them with the student’s parents. The teacher needs to understand what lessons a child with disabilities will come to, what textbooks he needs, what desk to put him in. This is worth discussing with parents, because they know their child’s needs best. If the child has a tutor, you need to think about how to seat them so that an adult does not obscure the board for other students, but at the same time so that the child does not sit far away. If the conclusion of the commission states that the child needs an individual program, then organize opportunities for the child to study under such a program.

2. Be ready to take on responsibility when a tutor is no longer needed.

Over time, the assistance of the escort must be reduced so that the student becomes independent. When he understands how the lesson works, is able to withstand all or almost all of the lessons, begins to hear instructions and respond to them, the tutor can be removed, and eventually completely removed from the educational process. After the tutor leaves, the student begins to rely only on the relationship with the teacher. At the same time, all responsibility passes to the teacher, and he needs to monitor safety and resolve emerging conflicts.

3. Maintain relationships between parents of a child with disabilities and parents of other children.

Parents of special children are often afraid to enter the society, they are used to critical views and misunderstanding. So that the parents of such a student do not feel separate from the team, you can organize joint trips, meetings and holidays. If necessary, connect to the communication of a psychologist.

4. Monitor compliance with all special conditions in the process of teaching a student with disabilities.

The task of an educational organization is to make sure that all the learning conditions required by the student, prescribed in the conclusion of the PMPK, are observed.

If something is missing – there is no tutor’s rate, there are no special textbooks, there are no specialists – speech therapists, psychologists, there are no ramps or other conditions for a student’s comfortable access to school, the teacher and parents have the right to insist that this be created as as soon as possible.

The presence of all the necessary conditions depends on whether the child will be able to study effectively and successfully master the program.

“Some variants of adapted programs according to the Federal State Educational Standards are comparable to general education programs and make it possible to continue education after school on an equal basis with peers, so if a child can study according to a more complex program, it is important to give him this opportunity,” says Valentina Frolova .

“The main thing is that the teacher is aware of himself as an active participant in the process”, – emphasizes Frolova.

You can learn more about the rights of a teacher and a student in inclusive education in a general education school at the online course on inclusive education of the I am a Teacher service. The course was developed in partnership with the Center for Curative Pedagogics “Special Childhood”, the regional public organization of people with disabilities “Perspektiva” and the center “Masters and Margarita”.