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Steps to
inclusion
promotes the ability of "typical" children to function in a heterogeneous society, limits stigmas and
negative stereotypes, creates positive opinions with regard to the “other,” and develops insights
that help in coping with differences (Chen, Shulman & Hed, 1990).
In recent years, with a lowering of the age of diagnosis and the increasing need to build frameworks
for early intervention, the number of programs for the inclusion of very young children with
disabilities in typical frameworks have increased. From the research studies that have examined
the advantages and disadvantages of inclusion in early childhood, a complex picture arises. Some
of the studies present very positive findings with regard to the contribution of inclusion of toddlers
with disabilities to their cognitive, behavioral and emotional functioning, and have also found
that children who participated in an early inclusion program functioned better even at the age of
4 - 6 (Parker, Corona & Cahn 2013; Stahmer, Akshoomoff & Cunningham, 2011). However, other
studies found significant disadvantages to integrating children in early childhood, such as the
social isolation of the child with disabilities, and the provision of partial and unsatisfactory effective
solutions by comparison to those given by the special framework (Klein and Sobelman-Rosenthal,
2010). There are a number of models for inclusion in early childhood, the differences between
them being a consequence of the number of integrated children in the kindergarten, the duration of
inclusion over the week, and the make-up of the group of integrated children.