Successful Integration at Colorado RiverHead Start Program
by Carol Daniel, Head Start Director, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Parker, Arizona
The Colorado River Indian Tribe (GRIT) Head Start program thrives on challenges and the desire to provide the best of services to the 183 children in the program. The experienced and trained staff help GRIT meet the challenge that goes into providing a comprehensive child development program on an Indian reservation.One of the highlights of the program is the disabilities component. This component has, in the last few years, matured tremendously, and the program staff now feel a much greater sense of self-confidence in the work that they do. All aspects of delivering services are now taken on with enthusiasm by the staff, such as meeting with the different specialists, coordinating and collaborating with other agencies, and working directly with the disabled children.
This enthusiasm has not always been there and although there may be many reasons for the lack of it, certainly one prevailing cause was the staff's lack of confidence. Some of that fear still pops up now and then. The administrative staff has recognized this issue and has worked very hard to provide training in as effective a manner as possible. Every possible training activity that the program becomes aware of is looked into for feasibility of staff attendance and for effectiveness. The remoteness of the reservation makes assessing some training activities difficult.
In looking at training, care is taken to cover the needs of all the staff, from kitchen and transportation staff to teaching staff. All types of resources have been used to train staff, from conferences and teleconferences to local training by a speech pathologist. On-site training visits to agencies that serve persons with disabilities is planned for the fall.
The local school district's preschool special education program has added a great deal to the delivery of services in the disabilities component. The office is located in the Head Start center and the project supervisor and two therapy aides are there daily to work with the children in their respective classrooms. They take advantage of Head Start training whenever possible. Their integration into the program is such that it would be difficult for non-staff persons to distinguish between Head Start and school district preschool staff.
The CRIT Head Start program gives priority in enrollment to children with disabilities and in the last couple of years has averaged 30 children who receive special services. Most of the children in the disabilities component are speech/language delayed. This last year, however, children with more severe disabilities were enrolled. These disabilities included Down syndrome to cerebral palsy, blindness, and motor impairment. All the children are mainstreamed, except when it is not possible to provide the required therapy in the classroom.
The integration of children with disabilities into the regular classrooms has made a tremendous advance in the last year or so, but the program plans on more improvement. If there was resistance from any staff when the program began to enroll children with severe disabilities, those persons have now changed their attitudes. Staff would now find it extremely difficult to tolerate the isolation of children with disabilities in special classrooms. Many now have witnessed the positive effect mainstreaming has had, not only for the children with disabilities, but for a non- disabled three-year-old who can now understand some of her disabled classmates limitations and slows her stride as they walk to the restroom together.
The true test of the mainstreamed program has been the parent's assessment. Many have been so impressed with the advances their children have made as a result of being with their non-disabled peers that they will likely question why it won't always be this way.
The program administrators are now making final placement plans for the fall. A great deal of thought goes into the placement of children and this year a greater challenge is before the program as ten or so children with severe disabilities have been identified and are planning on entering the program for their first or second year.