Research that Benefits Children and Families-Uplifting Stories

 

For this assignment I chose to focus on research that has a positive effect on children and families.  I focused on an article that conducted a case study on a young girl named Vicki.  Vicki had autism and attended Forest Nursery school.  The school had 50 students that were three to five years old.  The study focused on who worked with Vicki including teachers, children and her parents.  The data was collected over a six month period through videos and field observations.  The researchers documented interactions or dialogs that were observed through play (Theodorou & Nind, 2010). 

The researchers felt that it was important to provide a description that was rich about the child with autism supported in their inclusive environment to play.  It was known that children with autism play.  However, sometime not through social interactions that simulates play with others.  In the study teachers did things to support Vicki with this in mind.  In the study play was strong in including Vicky by using an approach that offered collaboration and using a framework of curriculum.  These played a part in supporting teachers, children, and Vicky through learning about inclusion and actively participating in play (Theodorou & Nind, 2010). 

Upon completion of reading how the teachers, children and Vicki learned about inclusion through interacting in an inclusion environment reminded me of my past student.  I remember a student that I will call Ralph.  He had never been in a child care setting.  He had been born with some physical limitation due to a lack of oxygen at birth.  When he entered our program his parents were very protective and worried how Ralph would do with the other 17 children.  When Ralph walked he was a little unstable, and wore diapers.  He also was limited with his use of vocabulary.  I remember talking to his dad about transportation.  His dad shared with me that he was scared to let Ralph ride the bus for fear of him getting hurt.  I talked to Ralph’s dad about the bus carrying only pre-k children, the bus driver and monitor.  Ralph’s dad was still not on board until one day Ralph asked to ride the bus home.  His dad was willing to try.  After his first try on the bus, that was all Ralph talked about.  He rode the bus every day after that.

Our program also had parent/teacher conferences that were led by the student.  All children had an opportunity to show families what they had learned.  When Ralph had his parent/teacher conference he was able to show his family that he knew how to write some letters in his name, sorting items by color and identifying some letters.  When we finished his conference, Ralph’s parents’ were in tears.  They continued to say thank you in Spanish to me.  His dad said that he was amazed at how much Ralph had learned.  The doctors said that he would never walk or talk.  Ralph was a student who loved going to school.  When he needed support children in the classroom would help.  For example: Ralph needed help carrying his lunch tray and one of his peers would always volunteer to help.

Having Ralph in my class provided me the opportunity to show his family the benefits of an inclusive program.  Our classroom had children with all abilities.  Our environment was set up to encourage children to complete things independently and learn through play.  Our classroom became a community where everyone helped each other regardless of their abilities.  Studies like the one conducted on Vicky are important to show how children, teachers and families benefit from an inclusive classroom.

 

 

Reference

 

Theodorou, F., & Nind, M. (2010). Inclusion in play: A case study of a child with autism in an inclusive nursery. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 10(2), 99-106.