Serving Children with Disabilities          

 

Question: If my childcare center is in my home, do I have to accept children with disabilities?

Answer:  Yes, the Americans with Disabilities Act says that no matter how small you are, you cannot just say “no disabilities.”  You must try to figure out how you can serve children with disabilities taking into account your finances.  You would not be required to remodel your house to make it accessible to a child in a wheelchair, but you could accept a child with poor vision who just needed a little extra help getting around outside and playing games.  Call local and state resources to figure out if there is a way to serve a specific child without cutting down on your income or undeserving the other children in your home. 

Question:  Do I have to give medicine or shots or things like that?

Answer: The law says you must be willing to provide those medical services which parents are able to do.  This would include medicine doses, insulin shots, asthma treatments, etc.  Of course, if you are the only staff present, you would not be required to give treatments that left the other children unsupervised.  The ADA is a practical law and says you do not have to serve a child if doing so is an undue financial burden or causes danger to the other children.

 Question:  What kind of training should I have to serve a child with a disability?

Answer:  You as a professional child care provider already have tremendous experience working with a wide variety of children.  Many of them may have hidden disabilities that no one has recognized yet.  You have learned how to work with them and help them fit in with the other children.  There are many agencies and organizations that will give you advice and free training for working with children that pose difficulty for you.  Start by asking the parents for advice on working with their child.  Some organizations will send a trained therapist into your home upon your request, to teach you to work with a child.  There are also agencies that will loan you adapted toys for use of specific children in your home.  Check out the resources listed at the end of this handout. 

Question:  Do I have to accept a child with a serious behavior problem?

Answer:  You must accept all children, UNLESS doing so is an undue financial burden. For example, if you have to hire an additional staff member just to keep this difficult child from running away, accepting this child would be dangerous to other children in your program or if you are unable to keep a child from throwing objects at other children despite trying many strategies.

 Resources for additional information:

Disability Resource Group: 770 451-2340

Babies Can’t Wait:  404-657-2726, Toll free: 1-888-651-8224

Parent to Parent, Inc.:  1-800-229-2038 

To find Inclusion Specialist (expert on including children with disabilities into a regular program) in your region, call..1-800-466-5681