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CONNECTICUT
BIRTH TO THREE SYSTEM
PRESCHOOL SPECIAL
EDUCATION
WORKING TOGETHER FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
INFORMATION FOR FAMILIES AND PROFESSIONALS • VOLUME 5, NUMBER 4
"Natural hat is your “natural depends on IDEA, state and local
environment”? If you policy, and community practices.
Environment" W
are an adult, your
and a "Least answer would probably be that Natural environments for infants
Restrictive there is more than one “environ- and toddlers with disabilities will
Environment" ment” in which you are a “natu- depend on what is natural for
ral” participant. Your natural infants and toddlers who do not
Why are they environment would probably be have disabilities. In turn, least
Important? your home, your workplace, your restrictive environments for
community of faith, your civic preschoolers with disabilities will
By Rud Turnbull, Co-Director, association or club. Your natural depend on what is natural for
Beach Center on Disability, environment is the place where preschoolers who do not have a
The University of Kansas, Lawrence you are a natural fit. Essentially disability. In our country the nat-
the natural environment is the ural environment is often a fami-
community in which you live, ly’s home particularly for infants
work and play. People feel a natu- and toddlers. Many children
ral fit when there are no barriers today also spend a great deal of
or restrictions in places that are time outside of their family’s
created by their disability or by home in various child-care
the environment itself. arrangements, including center-
based programs. All of these
So what would be the natural might be considered the child’s
environment for an infant, toddler natural environment or least
or preschooler with a disability? restrictive setting.
Under Part C of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act In deciding on the natural envi-
(IDEA), a state must provide early ronment or the least restrictive
This article is translated into Spanish intervention services in "natural setting the answer often is, “It
on page 2. Ver la versión española de environments" to infants and tod- depends”. It depends on more
este artículo en la página 2, y todos los dlers, ages birth to three, with a than the degree to which the
artículos a www.birth23.org disability or developmental delay. infant, toddler or preschooler has
acquired some ‘fit’ and whether
Produced by the Under Part B of the IDEA, a state the community has accommodat-
State Department of Education must provide special education to ed to the needs of the young
and the young children, ages three to six, child. It also depends on what
Connecticut Birth to Three System with disabilities in the "least services, supports and resources
in collaboration with the restrictive environment" a term state or local governments decide
akin to natural environment. The to provide to the child and their
natural environment for the infant family and where those services
or toddler with a disability, or the will be made available.
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SYSTEM least restrictive environment for a
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources preschooler with a disability, So, where does all of this lead us if
we follow IDEA’s requirement it possible for infants, toddlers and “least restrictive environment”
that infants and toddlers should and preschoolers with disabilities to express a goal and to reach an
be served in their “natural envi- to develop skills and abilities for outcome for each individual child.
ronments” (Part C) and preschool- participating in the “natural envi- What goal? What outcome? The
ers should be served in the “least ronments” of their same age-peers answer is simply this: The natural
restrictive environment” (Part B)? wherever those may be. and least restrictive environment
We come to some understandings for a child with a disability and
and these understandings are fairly Third: An infant, toddler or a pre- their family will be the same as
straight-forward. schooler with a disability will find any other child and family.
that the natural environment or
First: IDEA and other federal laws least restrictive environment may The same! What a powerful con-
(for example, Americans with be the home, a center-based pro- cept! It proclaims the same pro-
Disabilities Act) value “integra- gram, and/or a combination of found statement that the
tion” (also called “inclusion” or both. State and local governments Declaration of Independence
“full participation”) over segrega- often create and fund settings and announces: All of us are created
tion and separation. The principle services so that, long term, the equal in the eyes of the law. And
of the “natural and least restrictive young child with a disability will the same profound statement that
environment” is the law’s way of indeed have a “natural fit” in our Constitution announces: Each
saying this: “The natural environ- places where those who do not of us is entitled to be equally
ment for people with disabilities is have a disability fit naturally. treated under the law.
the same as it is for people with-
out disabilities.” In a nutshell, early intervention Natural environments and least
(Part C) and early childhood spe- restrictive environments therefore
Second: The IDEA Part C and cial education (Part B) use such are the foundations for equality.
Part B provide services that make terms as “natural environment”
“El entorno natu- se distrae. Uno siente un encaje En su Parte B que un Estado debe
natural cuando no percibe barreras proveer educación especial a los
ral” – “el entorno o restricciones en esos lugares, niños de tres a seis años con inca-
menos restrictivo”: creados por alguna incapacidad o pacidades en “el entorno menos
por el entorno propio. restrictivo”, término equivalente a
¿Por qué es impor- ‘entorno natural’. La definición de
tante? Así que ¿qué sería el entorno natu- entorno natural para el infante o
ral para in infante, párvulo o párvulo con incapacidad, o de
Por Rud Turnbull, Co-director, preescolar con alguna incapaci- entorno menos restrictivo para un
Beach Center on Disability dad? La Ley de educación de indi- preescolar con incapaci-
Universidad de Kansas, Lawrence viduos con incapacidades (la dad, depende de
‘IDEA’) dispone en su Parte C la IDEA y de
¿Qué es el “entorno natural” de que un Estado debe proveer servi- las normas
una persona? Si se trata de un cios de intervención temprana en estatales o
adulto, la respuesta probable sería “entornos naturales” a niños hasta
que hay más de un entorno o de tres años con alguna incapaci-
ambiente del que es participante dad o retraso en
natural. Incluiría el hogar, el tra- el desarrollo.
bajo, su comunidad de fe, la aso-
ciación cívica o club a que
pertenece. El entorno natural de
uno es el lugar donde uno ‘encaja’
de modo natural, esencialmente la
comunidad en que vive, trabaja, y
2 BIRTH through 5 NEWS SUMMER 2004, VOL. 5 NO. 4
locales, y las procticas de la comu- los sean servidos en sus ambientes donde encajan naturalmente los
nidad. naturales (Parte C) y que los que no tienen incapacidad.
preescolares sean servidos en el
Los entornos o ambientes natu- ambiente menos restrictivo (Parte En resumen, la intervención tem-
rales para infantes y párvulos con B)? Llegamos a algunas conclu- prana (Parte C) y la educación
incapacidades dependerá de lo que siones bastante claras. especial de la temprana infancia
es natural para niños sin incapaci- (Parte B) se valen de las expre-
dades. A su vez, los ambientes Primera: La IDEA y otras leyes siones ‘el ambiente natural’ y ‘el
menos restrictivos para preesco- federales (por ejemplo, la Acta menos restrictivo’ para expresar un
lares con incapacidades depen- Americans with Disabilities) valo- objetivo y lograr resultados para
derán de lo que sea natural para ran la integración (también llama- cada niño individual. ¿Qué objeti-
preescolares sin una incapacidad. da “inclusión” o “plena partici- vo? ¿Qué resultados? La respuesta
En nuestro país el ambiente natu- pación”) en oposición a la segre- simplemente es: El ambiente natu-
ral, en especial para infantes y gación y separación. El principio ral y menos restrictivo para un
párvulos, suele ser el hogar famil- del “ambiente o entorno natural y niño con incapacidad y su familia
iar. Muchos niños hoy en día que el menos restrictivo” es la forma será el mismo que para cualquier
pasan un tiempo considerable que tiene la ley para decir: otro niño y su familia.
fuera del hogar propio en varios “El ambiente natural
arreglos de guardería en otros hog- para la gente con ¡El mismo! ¡Qué con-
ares o en centros de cuidado de incapacidades es el cepto más poderoso!
niños. Todos estos lugares pudier- mismo que para Proclama la misma
an considerarse ambientes ‘natu- la gente sin inca- declaración profun-
rales’ o ‘los menos restrictivos’ pacidades”. da de la Declaración
para el niño. de Independencia:
Segunda: Las Todos estamos crea-
Al decidir sobre el entorno natural Partes C y B de la dos iguales a los ojos
o ambiente menos restrictivo la IDEA disponen de la ley. Y la misma
consideración suele ser “depende”. servicios que hagan declaración profunda de
Depende de factores adicionales al posible que los infantes, nuestra Constitución: Cada
grado de ajuste que haya adquiri- párvulos y preescolares con inca- uno de nosotros tiene derecho a
do el infante, párvulo o pacidades desarrollen habilidades igual tratamiento bajo la ley
preescolar y de la y destrezas que les permitan
adaptación de coparticipar en los “ambi- Los ambientes naturales y los
la comunidad entes naturales” con sus menos restrictivos son por lo tanto
a sus necesi- compañeros de la misma los fundamentos de la igualdad.
dades. edad donde quiera que
También estén.
depende
de qué Tercera: Un infante,
servicios, párvulo o preescolar
apoyos y con alguna incapacidad
recursos el encontrará que el ambi-
Estado o los ente natural o menos
gobiernos locales restrictivo puede ser el hogar,
decidan proveer al un programa basado en un centro
niño y su familia y dónde estarían de guardería o una combinación
disponibles esos servicios. de ambos. Los gobiernos estatal y
locales suelen crear y ubicar esce-
Así, ¿adonde nos lleva todo esto narios y servicios para que a largo
teniendo en cuenta que la IDEA plazo el niño con una incapacidad
requiere que los infantes y párvu- logre un encaje natural en lugares
3 BIRTH through 5 NEWS SUMMER 2004, VOL. 5 NO. 4
Birth to Three all families to decide no later than Some districts may prefer to com-
when their child turns 2 whether bine the first of these two meet-
System Update they wish to refer their child for ings with the transition confer-
special education and related serv- ence, but others may prefer to
ices. Decisions can be changed meet the family in a more infor-
later, but if a family wants to have mal setting. The outcome of this
services available at age three, they process is to ensure that the child,
need to start early. if eligible, will receive a Free
Appropriate Public Education
Once that decision is made an (FAPE) on their third birthday
official referral is sent to the dis- (unless that falls on a weekend or
trict. The next step is to convene school vacation day). Children
a transition conference with a rep- with summer birthdays have to
resentative from the school dis- wait until the first day of school
By Linda Goodman trict, the parents, and the service unless the PPT has decided that
coordinator. The purpose of this the child needs extended school
s you can see, the topic of conference is to meet the school year services.
this newsletter issue is pri- district personnel and to begin to
A talk about what comes next in the Those families whose children do
marily devoted to pre-
school special education. Each process. For most districts, the not need extended school year
year 85% of the children who next steps involve: 1) convening a services but who want to continue
leave the Birth to Three System at Planning and Placement Team to receive some services until
age three go on to receive special (PPT) meeting to discuss the school begins will need to investi-
education and related services referral and formally determine gate services covered by their
from their local school district. whether further evaluation infor- health insurance or services avail-
Sometimes that is a half or full mation is needed and how that able by private pay, since Birth to
day classroom program, and will be obtained to aid in deciding Three services end on the day
sometimes it means receiving only if the child is eligible for special before the child’s third birthday.
a related service such as speech education and related services; 2) That means investigating what
therapy. convening a second PPT meeting insurance plans will or will not
to determine eligibility, to develop cover and the availability of pri-
As we instruct all service coordi- the Individualized Education vate services. All of this takes
nators, the earlier a family con- Program (IEP) that includes the time, which is why we say,
tacts their school district and child’s individual goals, and to dis- “Earlier is always better.”
starts planning for this transition, cuss the child’s special education
the better. We strongly encourage program and related services.
Selected Internet source, websites should be used risk for developmental problems.
with caution. There is no control
Resources over the posting of incorrect materi- www.circleofinclusion.org. This
al on the Internet. Be aware that site is for early childhood
he following websites may not all websites list their informa- providers and families of young
provide you with informa- tion sources. Do not accept infor- children. It offers demonstrations
Ttion, ideas and resources. mation as fact just because it of and information about the
The websites listed here are not appears on a website. effective practices of inclusive edu-
endorsed or warranted in any way cational programs for children
by the University of Connecticut www.fpg.unc.edu. This site from birth through age eight.
Cooperative Extension System,The includes research and education
Birth to Three System or the State activities that focus on child www.taalliance.org. This is the
Department of Education. As with development and health, especial- site for Technical Assistance
all information obtained from any ly factors that may put children at (continued on page 6)
4 BIRTH through 5 NEWS SUMMER 2004, VOL. 5 NO. 4
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