Introduction

Children with Disabilities and the Early Learning Guidelines

The Revised New York State Early Learning Guidelines defines disability as any condition of the body or mind that makes it more difficult for the person to function in the environment around them. This definition is dynamic in that it depends both on the individual and the environment. Adaptations that make the environment more or less accessible alter the degree to which an individual is disabled.

Some children have disabilities that their families learned about before they were born or in early infancy. For other families, early childhood is the time when they gradually become aware of their children’s disabilities. Offering all families developmental screening with valid, reliable, and culturally and linguistically relevant tools is an important part of the early childhood educator’s role.

(The revised New York State Early Learning Guidelines should not be used as an assessment, progress monitoring or developmental screening tool. This document is NOT designed or intended to be used as part of the process of developmental screening.)

The broad range of individual differences among young children often makes it difficult to differentiate between normal variations in development and disabilities. It is important to remember that young children’s acquisition of skills and abilities is widely variable. It is to be expected that children of the same age will develop skills at different rates and at different times. In fact, children often make significant gains in one area while other areas lag behind temporarily. Differences in childrearing practices among families result in different expectations for the ages at which children will achieve developmental milestones. The abilities of emergent multilingual learners may not be immediately observable in an English-language learning environment.

For these reasons, educators should be thoughtful when interpreting developmental screening results or considering if and why a child may be having difficulty functioning in the learning environment. Engaging the family from a stance of curiosity is a good place to start. Is there a mismatch between the family’s expectations and the educator’s? Does the family have suggestions for how the educator might adjust the learning environment to make it easier for the child to function? Educators may experiment with different adaptations and observe the child’s response.

If a developmental screening result suggests that the child needs further evaluation, or if the family has concerns about their child’s development, educators may suggest that the family follow up on these concerns with their child’s health care provider. Developmental monitoring is an important part of children’s health care, and a health assessment—and possibly other evaluations—may be needed. Doctors are in the best position to talk with families about the next steps to take in evaluating children’s health and development. Families may also refer to the New York State Parent Portal for more information about child development and referral resources: New York State Parent Portal (opens in a new tab).

By law, all children with disabilities are required to be educated in the least restrictive environment. For most children, this means that they will attend childcare, preschool, and primary learning environments in their communities. One way to welcome children with disabilities into the learning environment is to learn from their families about ways to help them to be successful.