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According to the most recent census, about 18.7% of the population (57 million Americans) have a disability. People with disabilities need to access information, as fully and equitably as people without disabilities.

Let’s start by reading an example.

Going to and from lunch, the other students use the front entrance and wait for Katie to come along having used the accessible back entrance.

Although the university has met the accessibly requirements by providing a ramp in the rear entrance, Katie is excluded from fully participating with her classmates. If the building was built with universal design in mind, all entrances would be wheelchair accessible, and Katie would be able to access all building entrances, just as her peers do.

A simple solution for remembering how to incorporate universal design is JUST:

J – Jazz it Up
U – Use Multiple Methods
S – Simplify!
T – Test it Out

Now, let’s focus on what you need to specifically look at when creating an accessible document.

Throughout this course series, we have learned how important it is for children to stay in the same quality child care setting with the same caregivers for as long as possible. What we have learned shows the benefits to children that come from staying in the same child care setting. However, creating an environment where children and staff have a stable, consistent routine can be good for early care and education businesses, too.

From the business perspective, navigating the needs of children when they are showing challenging behaviors can be quite difficult. It can be hard to balance caring for the child who is showing challenging behaviors, keeping peers and teachers safe, and creating a supportive work environment for teachers—all at the same time as trying to provide a positive customer service experience to parents. The child’s behavior shows they are personally having a hard time. Teachers may feel unprepared to deal with the child’s challenging behavior. Parents of children who are bullied or injured by another child in the program will most likely expect centers to quickly fix the problem. 

Moving the child with challenging behaviors may be the quickest and easiest way for a center to solve the problem and maintain positive relationships between parents and the teachers who remain at the center. It’s important, however, to think about the consequences that a center-initiated move may have long after the child with challenging behavior leaves. The decision to ask a child to leave their current child care setting has consequences for staff, other children, their families, and for business aspects of the center.

Consider this example:

Foster is a single father with two children, Reyes and Marty. Reyes just celebrated his fourth birthday and Marty will be six months old next week. The child care center the boys have attended since Reyes was six weeks old has suddenly closed.  Foster is now struggling to find care for the boys. His boss gave him a few days off but made it clear he had to get this figured out quickly.

When a child’s care setting is changed, the family may be impacted in many areas:

• Work disruptions,
• Budget impacts,
• Family interactions, and
• Social relationships.

When a change is unexpected or decided by the child care provider, the amount of stress the family feels may increase dramatically.

• Quickly coming up with a new child care plan can be difficult.
• Families may not have help in figuring out a new care option for their child.
• There may not be similar child care settings to choose from in the area the family lives or works.
• Affordable, high-quality programs tend to have the longest waiting lists.
• There may be a period of time where families with more than one child must drop children off at more than one child care setting.
• Parents may need to miss work and, because of that, lose pay, have a disciplinary action, or lose their job.
• It may be difficult to find an open spot in another program that charges the same tuition and matches the working adult’s schedules.

Foster finds a child care provider near his work, but they only have a part time spot for Reyes, and it will be two months before they have a full time opening. Across town a licensed preschool has a part time opening, but the tuition is going to stretch his wallet. Also, it will add thirty minutes to his commute, and he will be dropping both boys off at different locations.

Families may have a hard time adjusting to a change in a child care setting that is not their choice.

• Parents may have many emotions about their child experiencing a change in child care that is not the family’s choice.
• The child may show increasingly challenging behaviors or may experience regression in previously learned skills for a period of time after the change.
• This type of change may bring feelings of frustration, sadness, anger, helplessness, and powerlessness for both the parent and child.
• When people have a hard time coping with their feelings, relationships with other family members and peers may be impacted.

The first week in the new school, Reyes had three notes sent home. His behavior at home has become more challenging as well. Most nights Reyes cries himself to sleep. Foster feels like he is failing his boys and is not sure what to do.

Unexpected changes in child care also have the potential to change the ways parents and children are involved with the community.

Before the change, Foster took his boys for family time at the library or park after work. However, with the additional commute time needed to drive to and from the new child care center, Foster doesn’t have enough time to do anything extra with the boys.

Research shows how important it is for children to have familiar routines and to be cared for by familiar caregivers with whom they have a positive relationship. Children benefit developmentally when they participate in intentional learning activities within a routine, safe, and familiar environment. Quality early care and education (ECE) experiences come in many packages and can be provided in a home or social community-based groups, as well as in regulated, organized child care. This course focuses on the importance of quality ECE experiences supported by Head Start, Public Preschool, and Licensed and Certified Child Care. Research indicates children arrive better prepared for kindergarten when they participate in early care and education experiences which intentionally support physical, social emotional, and neurological development.

There are many types of Early Childhood experiences that families may choose including:

• Public preschools which are operated by the School District
• Privately owned and operated licensed preschool programs
• Privately-operated licensed child care programs
• In-home licensed and certified child care
• Friends, Family, and Neighbor care that is not licensed or certified (non-regulated)

This course focuses on regulated child care which is publicly supported and governed by state and/or federal guidelines, including Head Start, Public Pre-School, Licensed and Certified child care settings. The number of regulated ECE program choices within a community may be different depending on the needs of the community and the choices owners make regarding the services they offer.

Information that is included in Kentucky’s public child care directory includes:

• location
• hours of operation
• age of the children served
• transportation services
• total capacity the program is approved to serve
• whether the program accepts child care subsidies through the Child Care Assistance Program

The types of curricula an ECE program uses may impact the quality of the education a child receives while participating in organized child care:  

• There is a lot of variety in the curricula available for ECE programs to use.
• There are many different types of curriculum which can be used to help a child grow socially, emotionally, physically, and educationally.
• There is no national or state curriculum that is mandated for all ECE programs and the curriculum alone does not determine that a program will or will not be a high-quality program.

Because ECE programs have the flexibility to choose the curriculum which best matches their philosophy, structure, and needs of the children and families they serve, it can be hard for children to change from one child care setting to another. Changing curricula can be difficult because each curriculum is organized in a different way. Changing to a new curriculum may interrupt the learning of the child while they adjust to a new curriculum.  

Students and parents can work together to craft a vision statement to share the future you envision so that the entire team of professionals can see the bigger picture.

A vision statement is a description of what a student wants to achieve as they grow up. It is intended to serve as a clear guide for choosing current and future courses of action.

?Think Spot: So, our next question we want you to think about is what your son or daughter likes to do, and what are some of his or her talents or skills? Please take a moment to write down your thoughts on your handout.

Make employment the goal at a young age.

We can make the connections early on that if a child likes art, they can become an artist and if a child likes animals, they can work at a veterinarian’s office or groom horses.

Let them know how interests, talents, and dreams can become jobs in the future. And our children should also expect to earn a competitive wage, just like everyone else.

Today people with all types of disabilities are working in their communities in a variety of professions, such as teaching assistants, artists, musicians, public speakers, medical assistants, entrepreneurs, and so much more! They are attending programs for people with intellectual disabilities found at more than 250 colleges nationwide. They are getting married and owning homes, often with some support to become more independent.

As they are included in their schools and communities, they are developing meaningful friendships and relationships. Ultimately, they are living more independent lives and following their own dreams and goals.

Consider this example:

29-year-old Joe Steffy was born with Down syndrome, autism, and he has limited verbal skills. Some people might assume that someone like Joe could not work or could only do certain types of jobs. However, his family and professionals looked at his strengths and created a business based on Joe’s interests and skills. What they found was that Joe enjoyed the repetitiveness of popping and bagging popcorn.

Now, he sells kettle corn at events throughout Kansas and Georgia and has a very lucrative business. To achieve this success, he also received support from the DD Council, vocational rehab, and Social Security to pay the startup costs of his business, which allowed him to become more independent and fulfilled.

Watch Joe’s story:

Now, click on the first topic below, Topic 1.1 About this Course.

?Think Spot: Everyone has hopes and dreams for their children’s future. How does work in the community help fulfill those dreams? Take a moment to write down your hopes and dreams for your son or daughter’s future on your handout.

This sequence shows how even from an early age, families can work with professionals to help lay the foundation for competitive, integrated employment.  These activities represent a compilation across the years of home, school, and community activities that increase the likelihood of a youth achieving his or her goal of paid work in a field of his or her choice!  Read this case example about the importance of intentionally thinking about these steps!

Case Example: Huxley

Huxley is a student with interest in cooking and working in the kitchen. There are many steps his family, educators, and professionals can take to prepare him for a restaurant job.
Chores at Home
From a young age, his family has asked him to help in the kitchen – gathering ingredients for dinner and learning the basics of food preparation. He frequently makes fruit salad and other basic recipes. 

School and Community Activities
Huxley could also take home economics at school or work toward his Scout cooking badge. These are examples of school and community activities that promote his interest. 

Leadership and Volunteer Work

Next, he could start to offer volunteer work at a local food ministry. Huxley could stock the pantry or help cook and serve meals. He could also serve as a leader in a Scout troop by helping with Scouting for Food. 

Community Work Experiences

His school transition coordinator could help him find a job, gaining community work experience a few hours on Friday at the school coffee shop. Huxley could work for a family friend at their catering business as he gains experience, serving and preparing food on the weekends at weddings. 

Paid Work at a Regular Job
Finally, Huxley could start applying for competitive employment at restaurants and coffee shops, and he has the experience and the skills to do the job! Ideally, he has made several contacts through his home, community, and school experiences to offer him employment.

Ultimately, we know that youth who have access to these meaningful work experiences will have improved employment outcomes as adults, so we want to ensure we are consistently working along with these essential steps to employment.