Educating Young Children with Additional Needs

Professor Sheila Wolfendale, Director of the Doctorate in Educational Psychology programme at the University of East London.

Most young children with additional educational needs are enrolled in their local childcare centre or pre-school. Whether they have delayed or advanced skills, many will need extra support from teachers and child care workers so that they can participate fully in these settings.

Educating Young Children with Additional Needs is a comprehensive guide to working with these children. It outlines how to recognise when young children have atypical needs, individualise relevant programs for them, and make sure that they can participate socially with other children in the group. It highlights the importance of teachers' and caregivers' responsiveness both to the children and their parents.

Individual chapters explain how to identify and meet the additional needs of children with vision or hearing impairments and those with difficulties acquiring motor, daily living, communication or intellectual skills. The emphasis is on assisting those with mild to moderate difficulties in any of these domains. The particular needs of gifted children are also explored.

Educating Young Children with Additional Needs is a valuable professional reference and student text for child care workers and pre-school teachers.