Preschools for Slow Children
An extraordinary educational event has taken place in this country. As of 1991, all states agreed to provide educational services for every child with a developmental disability from birth. The objective of this intense effort at early intervention is to accelerate the development of slow children so that they can be integrated into the mainstream. This commitment marks a radical and welcome change in attitude and practice towards the handicapped. We are all enlarged by the presence of children with disabilities in our schools and on our playgrounds; by adults with disabilities in the work place and even on television. Yet there are risks involved in pushing children to make rapid gains in the hope of a "catch-up'' effect. Such efforts may conflict with their natural developmental pace and allow them inadequate time to make sense of the world through their own actions.
The debate over how much we hurry young children is familiar to educators of young children without disabilities. Indeed, one distinctive characteristic of 20th-century school reformers is a preference for natural growth over hot-housing approaches. Special education has participated less in this debate, perhaps because simply getting services for all children has been a full-time mission. In addition, early intervention programs are predicated on the goal and expectation of accelerated progress. But for these children, too, it is important to ask: Is early acceleration the best way to help slow children achieve their maximum potential? Can excessive drive on our part erode nascent drive on their part?
From my observations, based on a field study that took me across the country to 20 early-intervention programs for 3-to 5-year-old children with developmental disabilities, in our drive to accelerate progress, we are imposing a regime on small children that they are incapable of handling. The theory is that we can rectify deficits by taking advantage of the early years to instill the knowledge and behaviors required later. So, to get the children "ready'' for kindergarten, we ask kindergarten behaviors of them--sitting in chairs, attending to a teacher, following a schedule,...
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