overview of the Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities for LeTourneau University TEACH program

1. Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities Presentation by Amy Brondum, Brandy Childress, and Tamiko Brown for EDUC 4763A

2. Disabled Children Face Many Challenges… “IDEA” is a set of laws that help make sure education is available to children of all different challenges. PPCD is the section of the IDEA laws that makes preparation for disabled children to enter school. Therapy, specialized teachers, special equipment and financial helps are available to families that qualify.

3. Why intervene inPreschool? The goal of Special Education Preschool is to prepare young students to hopefully enter inclusive programs by kindergarten or first grade.

4. Learning Through Play Researchers have documented that young children learn best through their natural inclination to play games, sing songs and make pretend. **PPCD advocatesthis approach.**

5. Finding Program Candidates

6. I.E.P.-A formal contract The first step is to create and Individualized Education Plan or “IEP” which is an agreement between teachers, schools and parents about the specific needs and goals of each young student. An IEP is reviewed every year and is considered a formal contract under the PPCD law. For preschoolers, the goal is to intervene early enough to achieve as much academic success as developmentally possible.

8. Parent input

9. Teacher recommendations

10. Health conditions

11. Social/cultural background

12. Adaptive behavior*Comprised of Parents, Teachers and School Administrators

14. Social skills

15. Language

16. Emotional skills

17. Cognitive skills

18. Self-help techniques

19. Motor skills

20. Provides:

21. Transportation

22. Assistive Technology

23. Counseling

25. PPCD Teachers are Special!

26. PPCD Students are Special Too!

27. References: Austin ISD Website. (2011). http://archive.austinisd.org/academics/specialeduc/ppcd/ National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities website. (2010). http://nichcy.org/schoolage/preschoolers Partners Resource Network website. (2009). http://www.partnerstx.org/Resources/IDEA/Disabilities_That_Qualify_Under_IDEA.htm Plano ISD website. (n.d). http://k-12.pisd.edu/currinst/sped/ppcd/ppcdintro1.htm Texas Project FIRST website. (n.d). http://www.texasprojectfirst.org/PreschoolProg.html