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VAN ZINE
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(604) 520-5400 700 Royal Avenue, New Westminster, B.C.
Mailing Address: P.0. Box 2503, New Westminster, B.C. V3L 5B2

 

 

 

 

 

November 1, 2, &3

 

Inclusion of special
needs kids addressed at
College conference

: ook around any pre-school
classroom today. There’s a
freckled boy making a puz-

zle, there’s a blond girl painting a

picture, and there’s a boy ina

wheelchair playing on a computer.
Not long ago, you wouldn’t

have seen the boy in the wheel-

chair. It’s called inclusion, says

 

sine INSIDE

OCTOBER 30, 1990

Open House Cou

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
    

 

 

Cathleen Smith, Coordinator of
the Post Basic Early Childhood
Education Program at Douglas
College.

"Inclusion means including
pre-school children in regular
programs instead of segregation,"
says Smith. "It’s the idea that no
matter what you are, you do what
other people are doing."

Smith is organizing a con-
ference called Inclusion: Early
Childhood For All Children to be
held in November at Douglas Col-
lege. Sponsored by Douglas Col-
lege and co-sponsored by the
Division of Early Childhood of the
B.C. Council for Exceptional
Children, the conference is a series
of panel discussions and
workshops on early childhood
mainstreaming.

Parents of children with hear-
ing aids, with emotional problems,
and learning disabilities want
them to be in the same classroom
as their peers. "Parents of special
needs kids want to see them going
to school with their natural
friends," says Smith.

Pre-school is the time for in-
clusion, she says, because at that
age, children aren’t prejudiced. "If
they get used to people that are dif-

 

ferent at that age, then they'll be
better at it later in school.

Smith says that the c
is aimed at parents, care
ministrators, teachers, < sllors,
professionals and paraprofes-
sionals. "It’s for anybody who
wants to know about inclusion,"
she says. "Inclusion is the trend,
and these people are the most
knowledgeabie about it. '

Some of the foremost experis
on inclusion in the early chiid

 

     
     

Cathleen Smith, Co-ordinator
of the Post Basic Early
Childhood Education Program
at Douglas Coliege.

hood field will be at the con-
ference. "We'll be addressing lots
of issues," she says.

The feature speaker is Agneta
Hellstrom, Director of Services for
Special Needs Children, Federal
Department of Social Welfare in
Sweden. "Sweden is one of the
most advanced countries in the
world in services for handicapped
people," says Smith.

 

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