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Ans 1: Early childhood intervention is a support and educational system for very young
children (aged birth to six years) who have been victims of, or who are at high risk for child
abuse and/or neglect as well as children who have developmental delays or disabilities. Some
states and regions have chosen to focus these services on children with developmental
disabilities or delays, but Early Childhood Intervention is not limited to children with these
disabilities.

The mission of Early Childhood Intervention is to assure that families who have at-risk children
in this age range receive resources and supports that assist them in maximizing their child's
physical, cognitive, and social/emotional development while respecting the diversity of families
and communities.

Early intervention is a system of coordinated services that promotes the child's age-appropriate
growth and development and supports families during the critical early years. In the United
States, some early intervention services to eligible children and families are federally mandated
through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Other early intervention services are
available through various national, regional, and state programs such as Crisis Nurseries and
Healthy Start/Healthy Families America. Starting with a partnership between parents and
professionals at this early stage helps the child, family and community as a whole.

Early intervention services delivered within the context of the family can aid with the below
through the services of physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Some examples include:

Help prevent child abuse and neglect

Mitigate the effects of abuse and neglect
Improve parenting skills
Strengthen families
Improve the child's developmental, social, and educational gains;
Reduce the future costs of special education, rehabilitation and health care needs;
Reduce feelings of isolation, stress and frustration that families may experience;
Help alleviate and reduce behaviors by using positive behavior strategies and
interventions; and
Help children with disabilities grow up to become productive, independent individuals.
Assistance with technological devices, counseling, and family training.

The earlier children at high risk for abuse or neglect, of children with or at risk of disabilities
receive assistance and the sooner their families receive support towards their child's
development, the farther they will go in life.

Early childhood intervention strategies depends on the type of developmental delay the child has
as well as how the child is diagnosed. Normally, interventions may include speech therapy,
occupational therapy, psychological counseling, vision therapy, and physical therapy.
Speech Therapy: This type of therapy would be used for language and communication delays. It
focuses on speech, language, oropharyngeal, and cognitive factors in communication.
Occupational Therapy: Is aimed at helping developmental delays associated with cognitive,
motor, sensory, play skills, and communication. Goals and therapy interventions are set up

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depending on what skill the child needs to work on. An example may be if child can-not properly
grasp foods or small items with her fingers. The occupational therapist will then focus activities
on grasping and picking up small items.
Physical Therapy: Will provide therapy intervention for gross motor delays and physical
development. An example can be if a child has a delay with walking. The physical therapist will
use techniques to help diminish the delay and fine tune the child's walking.
Vision Therapy: Can actually be referred to as physical therapy for the eyes. If there is an eye
problem such as lazy eye, double vision, or crossed eyes, these issues can be fixed using vision
therapy.
Psychological Counseling: Counseling sessions can be made available not only for the children
but also also for the family, provided individually or in family sessions.
These are only some of the options available for early childhood intervention strategies. These
options can be performed in the classroom, home, or even an agency setting.

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Ans 2: Inclusive education means that all students attend and are welcomed by their
neighbourhood schools in age-appropriate, regular classes and are supported to learn, contribute
and participate in all aspects of the life of the school.

Inclusive education is about how we develop and design our schools, classrooms, programs and
activities so that all students learn and participate together.

Neighbourhood schools are the heart of our communities, and Inclusion BC believes they are
essential for a quality inclusive education system. Therefore we believe it is important to support
a public education system in B.C.

Benefits of Inclusive Education

All children benefit from inclusive education. It allows them to:

Develop individual strengths and gifts, with high and appropriate expectations for each
child.
Work on individual goals while participating in the life of the classroom with other
students their own age.
Involve their parents in their education and in the activities of their local schools.
Foster a school culture of respect and belonging. Inclusive education provides
opportunities to learn about and accept individual differences, lessening the impact of
harassment and bullying.
Develop friendships with a wide variety of other children, each with their own individual
needs and abilities.
Positively affect both their school and community to appreciate diversity and inclusion on
a broader level.

There have been efforts internationally to include children with disabilities in the educational
mainstream. In order to achieve truly inclusive education, we need to think about and incorporate

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children with special needs into regular schools. Especially, because these kids face some sort of
barriers to learning and participation in the classroom. As general education classrooms include
more and more diverse students, teachers realize the value of accepting each student as unique.
In effective inclusive programs, teachers adapt activities to include all students, even though
their individual goals may be different. We have learned that inclusive education is a better way
to help all students succeed. Researches show that most students learn and perform better when
exposed to the richness of the general education curriculum. The growing body of research has
shown that children do better academically when in inclusive settings and Inclusion provides
opportunities to develop relationships. Some of the benefits include: friendships, social skills,
personal principles, comfort level with people who have special needs, and caring classroom
environments. The most important function of friendships is to make people feel cared for,
loved, and safe. In an inclusive educational setting, low-achieving students are able to get extra
help even though they did not qualify for special education. Classmates of students with
disabilities also experience growth in social cognition, often can become more aware of the
needs of others in inclusive classrooms. An interesting side effect is that these parents report that
they also feel more comfortable with people with special needs because of their childrens
experiences. Students with disabilities can create long-lasting friendships that would not be
otherwise possible, and these friendships can give them the skills to navigate social relationships
later on in life.

The Government of India needs to bridge the gaps in their education system to build a strong
system of inclusive education in the country. So, there are following measures for better
implementation of Inclusive Education in India.

1. The Right to Education (RTE) must apply to all citizens of India. State and central
Governments as well as all the other social actors should recognize the importance of a
broadened concept of inclusive education that addresses the diverse needs of all learners.

2. A policy of inclusion needs to be implemented in all schools and throughout Indian education
system (NCF, 2005). Schools need to become centers that prepare children for life and ensure
that all children, especially the differently abled children from marginalized sections, and
children in difficult circumstances get the maximum benefit of this critical area of education.

3. The preparation of teachers for rural special education programmes should be planned
differently, as the aim of these programmes would be to integrate disabled persons in their own
environment and community.

4. As a system, inclusive education should be flexible. Its flexibility must be reflected in the
methods and materials used to give these children the widest possible access to the regular
curriculum.

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5. A school-based support team should develop strategies for the whole school to meet the needs
of learners with special educational needs. This team should also be a resource for teachers
experiencing problems in their classrooms.

6. The school has the primary responsibility for helping children learn alongside their typically
developing peers. An inclusive school must enable education structures, systems and
methodologies to meet the needs of all children, particularly those who face the greatest barriers
to achieving their right to education.

Ans 3 b): Visual impairment creates hurdles in the path of learning and living independently in
our society for students with visual disabilities. Through a combined effort of parents, teachers
and communities, children with visual impairments can learn independent living skills.
Children with visual impairments must receive adequate knowledge essential for independent
living at home, school and in the community. Educational programs must seek to prepare the
students for developing the necessary skills to live an independent life.
Visually impaired children should be taught about essential day-to-day activities and should be
adequately prepared by a team of teaching experts in daily living skills such as personal hygiene,
self feeding, grooming, cooking, shopping etc. These special needs children should be provided
with eating techniques, money identification, and clothing identification techniques to live their
life independently.
On the dining table where a visually impaired child has to sit and take their meals keep a Dicem
mat so that the plate does not slip over. Plate or bowls should have raised ends so that spilling is
minimal. Guide the child by taking their hand from plate to mouth. When teaching about feeding
use the hand on hand technique. Every time after finishing the meal give a suitable reward to
encourage the child to repeat the expected living skill.
Ans 3 c): Auditory Training refers to the development of skills using auditory information.
"Learning to listen" or making use of residual hearing is crucial for children with deafblindness.
Learning to interpret auditory information can assist with the development of other skills, such as
communication, literacy, and mobility. This includes learning to use adaptive devices and
equipment, such as cochlear implants or hearing aids.

In the field of audiology, auditory training refers to the process involved in improving the
auditory skills of individuals with hearing loss through structured and repetitive listening
exercises. In a nutshell, auditory training consists of exercises, also known as listening trials,
where the person (1) listens to a large number of presentations of speech sounds or other kinds of
sounds, (2) makes a judgement after listening to each presentation such as identifying the sound
heard, and (3) receives feedback after each attempt about whether the judgment was correct or
incorrect. A basic premise to this type of intervention is the notion that hearing is a sense but
listening is a skill that can be improved with practice. Hearing loss is not only characterized by a
reduction in the detection of auditory signals, but is often also accompanied by deficits in
frequency and temporal resolution which can cause auditory signals to be perceived in a distorted
fashion.

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Ans 3 a): Instructional materials for a child with visual impairment:

An enlarged activity script, directions, or readings of a detailed lesson can be used for a
low vision person and for use in describing tactile 3D models.

Use an overhead projector to show step-by-step instructions.

Use an opaque projector whenever possible to enlarge a text or manual

All colored objects used for identification related to a lesson, experiment, or other
directions should be labeled with a Braille label maker or otherwise coded.

Describe, in detail, all pertinent visual occurrences or chalkboard writing

Instructional materials for a child with intellectual impairment:

Charts can also be used as a means of providing positive reinforcement for appropriate,

on-task behavior.
Most people are kinesthetic learners who learn by doing, by completing a hands-on tasks
and appreciating the results. This is especially true for mentally retarded
Students who cannot comprehend abstract lectures very easily at all.

Instructional materials for a child with hearing impairment

Audiotapes, videotapes, and other auditory materials can be translated into print format to
make them accessible to children with hearing impairment.
Maximize the use of visual media.
Use written announcements (assignments, due dates, exam dates, changes in the class
schedule, special event dates, etc.).
Label equipment and materials to aid in the learning of new vocabulary items.
Provide indicator lights for the on/off status of equipment.

Ans 4:

ICT potential benefits must be made available to everybody, therefore, care must be taken to
ensure that access is as equitable as possible. The inclusion of users with SEN in new
educational environments based on ICT usage is a necessary prerequisite for any nation to grow
and prosper, not to lag behind in the digitized world economy. Correct policy solutions in this
sphere can offer greater leverage to support equal educational opportunities for such people.
Nevertheless, policy initiatives often happen to provide only a rationale for technology
investments, not a basis for successful ICT integration.
While governments elaborate programmes intending to engage people with disabilities in society
and design strategies of their rehabilitation on the principles of equality and non-discrimination,
comprehensive SNE policy initiatives should focus on the facilitation of accessibility of the ICT-

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mediated special education. The broad objectives of the policy framework to support ICT
integration in SNE are as follows:
to develop an integrated management system to coordinate planning, implementation, and
monitoring in all spheres of ICT integration in SNE;
to work out capacity-building strategies aimed at creating equitable access to ICT-mediated
education for people with disabilities;
to raise the awareness forming fundamental social attitude to the role of ICTs in education
and rehabilitation of people with disabilities;
to set up local structures, e.g. a disability council, and pilot projects linking strategy and
policy efforts with operational planning initiatives involving all role-players (schools,
institutions, teachers, students, etc.), government and private sector (businesses and
services).
In order to achieve the policy objectives, it is necessary to undertake actions in key areas.
European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education identified the following trends of
ICT policy in education for students with SEN:
to promote basic and specific training of teachers in the use of ICTs;
to ensure that adequate hardware and software infrastructure is available for all users;
to support research, innovation, and exchange of information and experiences;
to make the educational community and wider society aware of ICT benefits for special
needs education.

In compliance with such vision, ICT integration in special education must be seen as a complex
proposition based on the principle that technology is only a tool to shift the focus from
technology provision to design of learning environments. Previously the focus of policy
initiations has been on establishing infrastructure to enable ICTs to be effectively applied in
special education settings.

Most countries now acknowledge that the emphasis of policy should be placed on appropriate
ICT usage in different educational contexts. The components, which must be combined in this

holistic approach, include: a school/institute in which integration is to take place, the availability
and accessibility of the technologies provided, the technical support for the installation,
maintenance and upgrading of hard- and software, pedagogical preferences and skills of teachers,
and the students level of skills and motivation.

In order to identify the specific ICT policy in SNE, there is a need to determine a range of issues
influencing ICT applications in education of students with disabilities. There are common
themes where issues are evident: infrastructure (hardware, software, and Internet access), links to
educational theory (pedagogical ways of ICT integration in curriculum), and quality of teachers
training.

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