VOLUME II: WINTER 2015
The Wisconsin Division for Early Childhood
A subdivision of the International Division for Early Childhood Council for Exceptional
Children
“...supporting individuals who work with children with special needs, birth through age eight, and their families…”
www.dec-sped.org/wi
ED & HHS Release Policy Statement on Inclusion in
Early Childhood Programs
To submit information and/or resources for
consideration in future editions, please fill out
THIS FORM, which is submitted to Jen Kalis,
WDEC Website/Newsletter Coordinator
Upcoming
Events
2016 Preserving Early
Childhood Conference
March 1—3, 2016
More info coming soon!
2016 Infant and Early
Childhood Mental Health
Conference
June 13 –14, 2016
Elkhart Lake, WI
The “Policy Statement on Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early
Childhood Programs,” released jointly by the Departments of Education (ED) and Health
and Human Services (HHS) on September 14, 2015, states that all young children with
disabilities should have access to inclusive high-quality early childhood programs,
where they are provided with individualized and appropriate support in meeting
high expectations.
You can read information on the policy statement here.
As we all work together so that children with disabilities have access to inclusive high-quality
early childhood programs, here’s what you can to do help:
 Spread the word! Share this information with your network, and be sure to retweet
@usedgov and @hhsgov on the topic.
 Commit to working with other State agencies, CESA's, schools, early childhood
programs, and families to advance the recommendations and expand inclusive early
learning opportunities for all children.
Free Online Module on Autism Spectrum Disorder:
An Overview for Educators
The IRIS Center has released a free online module, Autism Spectrum Disorder: An
Overview for Educators which provides information on the early warning signs of Autism
Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the difference between a medical diagnosis and an educational
determination of ASD, the strengths and needs of children with ASD, key team members,
how family members might be affected, and strategies teachers can use when working
with children with ASD. It includes video examples, practice vignettes, and recorded
interviews. For example, see this interview with Ilene Schwartz, who discusses strategies
teachers can use in early childhood settings to promote the success of a child with ASD.
The Words Children Hear: Picture Books and the Statistics for Language Learning
Jessica L. Montag, Michael N. Jones, and Linda B. Smith
Young children learn language from the speech they hear. Previous work suggests that greater statistical diversity of words and of
linguistic contexts is associated with better language outcomes. One potential source of lexical diversity is the text of picture books
that caregivers read aloud to children. Many parents begin reading to their children shortly after birth, so this is potentially an
important source of linguistic input for many children. We constructed a corpus of 100 children’s picture books and compared word
type and token counts in that sample and a matched sample of child-directed speech. Overall, the picture books contained more
unique word types than the child-directed speech. Further, individual picture books generally contained more unique word types than
length-matched, child-directed conversations. The text of picture books may be an important source of vocabulary for young children,
and these findings suggest a mechanism that underlies the language benefits associated with reading to children. Read More!
Psychological Science | published online August 4, 2015 | doi:10.1177/0956797615594361
Promising Practices for
"Learn the Signs,
Act Early"
A new collection of Promising Practices for
"Learn the Signs, Act Early" provides
examples of locally inspired models and
ideas that have been carried out and
evaluated in programs and communities
across the country to spread the reach
of Learn the Signs, Act Early, a campaign
to help parents and child care providers
learn more about early childhood
development and the potential early
warning signs of autism and other
developmental disabilities.
Sesame Street
Introduces the
First Character
with Autism!
Meet Julia, and see
the full article HERE!
Highlights from the DEC 2015 Conference in Atlanta, GA
The conference was attended by Ruth Nyland. This
experience was filled with sessions that looked through a
unique lens “the time is always right to do what is
right” (MLK 1954) and how can we use DEC
Recommended Practices to move forward. Inclusion was
still a hot topic. The highlight of the conference was
hearing Dr. Sam Odom talk about the contributions of
four primary research centers in the evolution of practice
in EI/ECSE. His talk went through the timeline of EI/ECSE.
I was given the new Sesame Street book We’re Amazing,
1, 2, 3! Visit sesamestreet.org/autism or download the
Sesame and Autism iPad app for: New Sesame Street
videos, daily routine cards, fun activities and printables.
My presentation was titled “Understanding and Supporting
Families with Disabilities.” This presentation gave an
overview of how a child with a disabilities impacts the
lives, dreams and goal of families. I also attended the
subdivision leader’s meeting where I obtained a box of
pamphlets with information about DEC and the next DEC
Conference in Louisville, KY on October 18-20, 2016.
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
-Frederick Douglass