According to the developmental approach, typical development can be determined

As the population of preschool-aged children identified with disabilities increases and becomes more diverse, and as our programs begin to offer various options for integrated settings, we are more likely to see children with severe disabilities placed in non-categorical ECSE classrooms and other Early Childhood Special Education early childhood education settings. Programming for children with severe disabilities needs to be given thorough and individual consideration. It is easy for teachers to overlook children with severe disabilities and to leave them out of many activities occurring in the classroom. There are three common approaches to curriculum development: developmental, functional, and ecological. Following are brief descriptions of each approach.

The Developmental Approach

This model proposes that development of typical and atypical children progresses in a predictable sequence and that this sequence should be taught to students with disabilities. Several weaknesses are inherent in this approach for students with severe disabilities. First, time can be wasted working on skills which may never be mastered. Second, not all behaviors in the sequence are necessary for independent functioning nor are they age appropriate as the child grows well beyond the age that development skills are typically mastered. Finally, the child is viewed as "developmentally young". Consequently, the activities and materials used for intervention continue to be less than age appropriate which leads to negative perceptions and low expectations for children with severe disabilities.

The Functional Approach

The philosophy of this approach is that students with severe disabilities need to acquire age appropriate and functional skills (i.e., skills necessary for functioning independently). The major advantage of the functional approach to curriculum development is that it reflects higher expectations for students with severe disabilities and promotes opportunities to acquire age-appropriate skills. The main weakness of this approach is that there are not established criteria for determining what is functional and relevant for an individual student.

The Ecological Approach

The ecological approach reflects characteristics of both the individual student and the environments in which his or her participation is desired. The planning team using the ecological approach to curriculum development devises an individual curriculum which addresses the skills, activities, and environments most relevant to the student. The curriculum content is ever changing as the needs of the student change.

While reflecting the strengths of the other curriculum models, the ecological approach demonstrates other advantages. First, it promotes teaching skills that are age-appropriate and relevant to the student's daily life, while it respects the need to teach skills in order of progressive refinement and complexity (Rainforth, et al., 1992). Second, it encourages the use of adaptations that accommodate the disability or simplify task demands. The ecological approach also tends to unify team member efforts because the environments and activities that are identified as priorities for each student provide a natural context for integrating related services.

For further reading on this subject, the following materials are available for check out from T/TAC- Eastern Virginia, ODU Office:

Assessing Infants and Preschoolers with Handicaps by D.Bailey & M. Wolery

Assessment of Multihandicapped & Developmentally Disabled Children by R. Mulliken & J. Buckley

Early Intervention for Infants & Children with Handicaps by S. Odom & M. Karnes.

Linking Developmental Assessment and Curricula by S. Bagnato & J. Neisworth

Systematic Instruction of Persons with Severe Handicaps, 3rd ed. by Martha Snell

"A Responsive Curriculum for Severely Handicapped Preschoolers" in TECSE: 4:3, Fall, 1984

References

Rainforth, Beverly, et al. Collaborative teams for students with severe disabilities: Integrating therapy and educational services. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing Co., 1992.

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Which characteristics are typical of students with intellectual disabilities?

Which disorder is characterized by involuntary rapid repetitions of words or phrases?

Which statement regarding gender differences in rates of communication disorders is true?