This short article describes family and professional experiences of disability inclusion in early years settings, as well as the key enablers of inclusive practice. It also aims to provide guidance as to how professionals and programs/services can promote and implement disability inclusion in child and family programs.

Introduction

Children learn through play; this happens in everyday interactions with people and the world around them. They start by building relationships with parents and caregivers in their home environment but quickly move on to interacting with the wider community, including in places like early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, libraries, playgroups, maternal and child health services, and outdoor environments such as parks and playgrounds. 

The first five years of a child’s life are a critical period in which they develop skills for lifelong learning. Every child has the right to be included in experiences that support their learning and development, and professionals working with young children and their families have the responsibility to uphold this right (United Nations, 2008). It is vital that children with disabilities are provided with the same opportunities for learning as other children. Disability inclusion in these first five years means that every child can access, meaningfully participate, and experience positive outcomes in education and community settings (Early Childhood Australia/Early Childhood Intervention Australia, 2012). 

In addition to supporting children with disabilities, research continues to show that all children benefit from engaging in inclusive settings, in both the short and long term, and across a range of developmental domains (Dunst, 2007; Oh-Young & Filler, 2015). The Australian Government has recognised the importance of inclusion, which is featured both as one of the principles and as a key outcome of the Early Years Strategy (Department of Social Services, 2024).

However, research also shows that many young children with disability in Australia currently face barriers to inclusion and miss out on crucial opportunities to learn and develop (Blackmore et al., 2016; Grace et al., 2008; Productivity Commission, 2024). This evidence describes families’ experiences of exclusion in ECEC and other community settings and recommends additional training and support for professionals working with children and families to build capacity for inclusion (Kemp, 2016). This means supporting professionals to develop and implement inclusive practices which are both behaviours and actions that professionals use to support learning and development opportunities for all children (Finkelstein et al., 2019).

This short article summarises the findings of a qualitative study that examined family and professional experiences of inclusion in early years settings (Webster, 2022). The findings provide insight into inclusive practices that enable children with a disability to learn, develop and experience positive outcomes in regular community programs alongside their peers.

Based on these findings, the article aims to provide guidance on key practices that practitioners and professionals can implement to support inclusion in child and family programs.

What does disability inclusion in the early years look like?

The study was part of a PhD research project and explored family and professional perspectives on disability inclusion in early learning services. Through interviews, participants identified the key principles of disability inclusion:

• developing positive relationships with children  
• adapting programs and the environment
• supporting children’s sense of belonging
• planning for inclusion. 

Developing positive relationships with children

Positive relationships between children, educators and families were viewed as essential for disability inclusion. These relationships foster a strengths-based understanding of the child and support information sharing, which makes it easier to develop strategies to support children’s learning and development.

Participants described positive relationships as those with respectful communication, active listening and recognising things that were important to children and their families. More broadly, positive relationships foster trust between children and others in the community, such as their early childhood educators or playgroup facilitators. Trusting relationships created opportunities for rich interactions to occur, resulting in children learning more skills and being supported to develop in ways that best suited their strengths and preferences.

Adapting programs and the environment

Adapting the programs and the environment where they are delivered for children is also critical for disability inclusion. Adaptations could include things like a ramp to support access to a building, but they could also be small changes to communication or program structures, such as saying hello in English and Auslan, or supporting children to express themselves through multiple modalities, such as through visuals as well as verbally.

Supporting children’s sense of belonging

Belonging was another crucial component of disability inclusion, i.e. meaningfully including all children in a program or community activity. It also means normalising diversity in early childhood settings by supporting children to understand and accept differences in their peers, and for families to broadly welcome children with disabilities at the service or program.

Participants gave examples of these behaviours including intentionally supporting children to participate in valued roles and routines, such as being the educator’s ‘helper’ for the day or supporting children to learn about each other’s strengths and interests to foster connections between them. Parents in particular spoke about friendships as a core part of belonging, where other children and families welcomed their child and built positive relationships based on mutual interests. 

Planning for inclusion

Planning is another important aspect of disability inclusion but can be easily overlooked. Participants said that inclusion does not happen by accident but rather is a result of intentional and deliberate decisions by people caring for, educating, or engaging with children with a disability.

Planning was also seen as a collaborative activity that, at its best, involves professionals and family members working together to contribute their skills and knowledge about the child to enable better outcomes.

Practice considerations

Professionals and services working with children who want to put the above principles into action – and who want to promote and implement disability inclusion in child and family programs – can start by considering the key enablers to inclusive practice and engaging in the 3 practice strategies described below.

Together, these can create opportunities for all children to learn in high-quality, inclusive programs.

Key enablers to inclusive practice

Professionals who work with children and families have described 3 key enablers of inclusive practice (Webster, 2022):

• Inclusive cultures. These can be fostered by strong leaders who set the tone for inclusion as the ‘norm’ – the right of all children to participate in their community. One participant described a service’s inclusive culture as making a place in which her child’s participation was ‘a given ... something that everyone would work towards without question’.
• Partnering with families and other professionals. This can involve strategising where necessary to address any specific barriers to inclusion. No one person can hold all the answers or be responsible for making inclusion happen; rather, it must be a shared responsibility amongst everyone working with the child and their family.
• Engaging with professional learning. This involves professionals continuing to learn and upskill to make inclusion happen in practice. High-quality professional learning is crucial for keeping up to date with best practice, along with a willingness to try new ways of working with children.

When these enabling factors were in place, inclusive practices were more likely to occur routinely and be sustained over time.

Practice strategies

For practitioners seeking to incorporate the principles of disability inclusion into practice, the following key recommendations are drawn from the study by Webster (2022) and from Australian and international research on inclusion in the early years (Gauvreau et al., 2019; Sandall et al., 2016; Snyder et al., 2015; Rouse & O'Brien, 2017).

• Collaborating with families and other professionals. As the key principles and enabling factors above show, partnering with families is crucial for developing inclusive practice. More broadly, working in teams with families and other professionals can strengthen disability inclusion for a child through weaving together different perspectives. These can help everyone to develop effective strategies that recognise the child’s unique abilities and that can be realistically implemented in the different places that they learn and play.
• Identifying adjustments to the environment and practices. Practitioners in an early years setting should think about how the environment, and the ways they and others interact with a child with a disability, can be adapted to meet the child’s needs. Adjustments can include changes to the physical environment, such as reducing noise by introducing soft furnishings or opening up a space where children can retreat to help themselves regulate. It can also include changes to the way we communicate with children, such as offering them visual forms of communication, such as flashcards, to help them express themselves through pictures instead of relying on verbal communication.
• Embedding opportunities for learning within everyday routines and interactions. All children are capable of learning and developing new skills. When we think about ways children can practice their skills in their everyday environments, we can create more opportunities for them to improve, grow and learn.

Conclusion

All children have the right to play, learn and foster connections with people and places in their community. Disability inclusion involves developing positive relationships with children, adapting programs and the environment, supporting children’s sense of belonging, and intentionally planning for inclusion in collaboration with families. Inclusive practice requires developing inclusive cultures within programs and services, partnering with families and other professionals, and engaging in professional learning.

Engaging in these practices benefits all children, not only those with disabilities, because these practices encourage professionals to recognise and respond to the unique needs of every child to help them participate and learn.

Further reading and resources

• Universal Design for Learning framework: This resource breaks down ways to adapt environments and programs to make them accessible for children with a disability.
• Raising children network: Children with disability: This resource gives an overview of disability in children and the supports and services that are available.
• ACECQA: Inclusive environments handout: This resource gives an overview of inclusion in an early childhood context, and ways in which educators can adapt their programs to better include children with a disability.
• Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) Disability Standards for Education for early childhood (prior to school): This resource offers free online professional learning about disability inclusion.

Author and acknowledgments

Dr Samantha Webster is a Senior Consultant at Dandolo Partners.

References

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Early Childhood Australia/Early Childhood Intervention Australia. (2012). Position Statement on the Inclusion of Children with a Disability in Early Childhood Education and Care. www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/wpcontent/uploads/2014/06/ECA_Position_statement
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Dunst, C. J. (2007). Early intervention for infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities. In S. Odom, R. Horner, M. Snell, & J. Blacher (Eds.), Handbook of Developmental Disabilities (pp. 161–180). The Guilford Press.

Department of Social Services. (2024). The Early Years Strategy 2024–2034. Canberra: Australian Government.

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Rouse, E., & O'Brien, D. (2017). Mutuality and reciprocity in parent–teacher relationships: Understanding the nature of partnerships in early childhood education and care provision. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 42(2), 45–52. doi.org/10.23965/AJEC.42.2.06

Sandall, S. R., Schwartz, I. S., & Gauvreau, A. (2016). Using modifications and accommodations to enhance learning of young children with disabilities: Little changes that yield big impacts. In Reichow, B., Boyd, B., Barton, E., Odom, S. (Eds). Handbook of Early Childhood Special Education. Springer, Cham.

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United Nations. (2008). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. www.un.org/disabilities/documents/convention/convoptprot-e.pdf

Webster, S. (2022). Early childhood inclusion in Victoria, Australia: Investigating Parent and professional perspectives of practice, professional learning, and program policy. PhD Thesis, RMIT University.

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