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Young Children with Special Needs

More than 10 years ago, when P.L. 94-142 was written, children previously not included as recipients of public schooling were identified as part of the target population. Legislators were influenced both by research and by popular interest at the time, which suggested that the early years were among the most critical for learning and supported the notion that, if society is to play a role in ameliorating the effects of handicapping conditions, the first five years of life are the optimal time for such training. Therefore a special group of children, those aged 3 to 5, were made eligible for services under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. School districts were required to serve these children if programs for nonhandicapped youngsters these ages were available; or, if state constitutions were not in conflict, districts could receive reimbursements for children in such programs when they chose to offer them. Interest in early childhood special education has not waned, and research and journals focusing on the subject have now become a large part of the literature. Among the textbooks intended for use in training teachers of these children is Young Children with Special Needs, by S. Kenneth Thurman of Temple University and Anne H. Widerstrom of the University of Colorado. As the authors suggest, this book may be of use and interest to other professional persons working with this population, including psychologists and counselors. But it reads as if it were intended primarily for preand inservice teachers. The authors, both of whom have had extensive experience with young handicapped children, approach training from a developmental-ecological perspective. Their point of view, then, emphasizes the characteristic changes that take place over time as all children develop, considering the "built-in" mechanisms that oversee and determine growth and cognitive/social-emotional functions. These developments, however, are considered also in terms of