ERIC Number: ED226861
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1982
Pages: 13
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Programs for the Young Handicapped Child: A Policy Perspective.
Allen, K. Eileen
Forces providing impetus for compensatory early education--namely, the civil rights movement and the shattering of the predeterministic credo of the fixed intelligence quotient--have also worked in behalf of the handicapped. But for the handicapped one additional force has also been in operation: parents and citizens organized into political action groups. As a result of parent efforts, several Congresses enacted legislation that has altered the lives of many young children and their families. Important legislation focusing specifically on young children includes Public Laws 88-164, 89-750, 90-538, 91-230, 91-517, 92-924, 93-247, and 94-142. Each of these laws has made an important contribution to the education of the handicapped. Still, even in the best of times, less than half of the children needing special services have been helped. Crucial issues bearing on handicapped children and early intervention remain to be addressed: (1) identifying types of children most responsive to early intervention programs, (2) determining which of the many early intervention programs and curriculum models is most effective, (3) determining what measures provide the most important indices of change, (4) identifying cost-effective service delivery models, and (5) deciding the best form of family involvement. Issues such as these are unlikely to be adequately addressed by "seat-of-the-pants" attempts at improvement. (RH)
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (DHEW/OE), Washington, DC.; National Inst. of Mental Health (DHEW), Rockville, MD.
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A