The term “inclusion” has been a long, hard-fought battle for those who care for and provide services to children, youth and adults with disabilities. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA), enacted in 1975, mandated a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment for children and youth ages 5 to 21 with disabilities. The EHA opened a door that had long been shut, giving new hope and direction for how these students should be served.
In 1986, the door opened even wider, when Public Law-99 (part B) extended the school’s responsibility to include the education of children ages 3 to 5, and was flung wide open as part H established programs for infants and toddlers with special needs.
In 1990, when the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) reauthorized these provisions and added the clause “in the least restrictive environment” and “to the maximum extent appropriate,” the door was torn away, as educators recognized that inclusion would now take place in natural environments, including home and community.
Although bringing many challenges with it, the IDEA mandated that wherever children and youth without disabilities are, children and youth with disabilities will be playing, developing and learning right along with them.
Today, inclusion takes many different forms. There are still questions about the exact meaning of inclusion and its implications for policy, practice, and outcomes for children with disabilities and their families. The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) have addressed this issue of a “shared national definition” of inclusion by issuing a joint Position Statement on Inclusion (April, 2009).
In their words, they offer a definition of early childhood inclusion that “was designed not as a litmus test for determining whether a program can be considered inclusive, but rather, as a blueprint for identifying the key components of high quality inclusive programs.”
The DEC/NAEYC updated Position Statement on Inclusion lays out the steps needed to ensure that “inclusive experiences for children with and without disabilities and their families include a sense of belonging and membership, positive social relationships and friendships, and development and learning to reach their full potential.”