Here you will find information and resources to support children and youth
with disabilities in schools and early childhood programs.
Information and Tools
on Inclusion in Early Childhood: Child
Fact sheets, assessment
tools, and other
resources for purchase by families
and child care providers about including
with special health care needs
in early childhood programs.
- Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL). Tools and practical strategies for teachers and child care professionals for promoting young children's social and emotional development.
- Department of Education (ED): Disability Discrimination. An overview of the
laws involving disability discrimination
in education and links to resources
on the topic.
of Education (ED): Office of Special Education Programs
research, monitoring efforts, national studies, and
other resources for ensuring that infants, children,
and youth with disabilities receive quality education
and related services through the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). View OSEP
Ideas that Work for a wide range of research-based
products, publications, and resources to assist states,
educators, and families with improving results
Childhood Learning and Knowledge
Center (ECLKC): Disabilities.
Resources about program planning,
health and development issues,
working with families, and staff support
and supervision for including and supporting
children with disabilities in Head
Start, a national
that serves the development needs of
infants and children from birth through
age 5 and their families with low incomes
through the provision of education,
health, nutrition, social, and other
services. Includes an online
Head Start programs.
Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA Center).
Resources to improve state early intervention
and early childhood special education service systems, increase the implementation
of effective practices, and enhance the outcomes of these programs for
young children with disabilities and their families. Includes contact information
agencies and national organizations; webinars and
presentation materials; research and reference resources; information about
upcoming events; news; and resources for families.
- Head Start Center for Inclusion. Information and tools for Head Start staff on supporting and including children with special needs in the classroom and home.
- Special Olympics:
Project Unify. Tools to support this school-based initiative
that focuses on social inclusion, bringing youth with and without intellectual
disabilities together through sports and related activities.
- SpecialQuest Multimedia
Training Library. Training
tools for including infants and children
with special needs
and their families in early care and education
- Do you need information about a specific chronic
illness or disability, tools to help with transition planning, or resources
for rehabilitation and assistive technology? See the MCH Library's knowledge
and Youth with Special Health Care Needs for resources on these topics
- Do you need information to share with the families of your students? See the MCH Library's family resource brief, Kids
and Teens with Special Health Care Needs.
Databases for Further Research
Care and Early Education Research Connections: Research Collection.
Online catalog of child care and early childhood education research documents.
- Educational Resources Information
Center (ERIC) Database. Information about documents covering
all aspects of education-related issues. Search the database to identify many items
about education and children and
youth with special health
care needs. Enter disabilities (or the name of the condition) in the search box. Click on Search. Use the filters in the left navigation bar to further limit your search.
- National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Surveys and data about education in the United States and internationally.
Presents tools for searching and analyzing data and annual reports, fact sheets,
and other publications with education statistics. For example, to find the
number of children 3 to 21 years old served under IDEA, Part
B, by race and ethnicity and type of disability, go to the box, Popular Topics:
select a topic here. Select Search tables and
Enter disability and click on Search Now. Select the table from the list of
Related MCH Library Resources
- Asthma in Children and Adolescents knowledge path, family resource brief, school
- Autism Spectrum Disorder knowledge path, family resource brief, school
- Bullying resource brief
- Child Care bibliography
- Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs knowledge
path, family resource brief
- Community Services Locator: An Online Directory for Finding Community Services for Children and Families knowledge path
- Diabetes in Children and Adolescents knowledge path, family resource brief, school
- Emotional, Behavioral, and Mental Health Challenges in Children and Adolescents
knowledge path, family resource brief, school resource brief
- School-Based and School-Linked Health Care school resource brief
- School Health resource brief
- Screening resource brief
Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs: School Resource
Brief, 2nd ed. (April 2014). (Updated July 2014).
Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Library.
Reviewers: Lauren Agoratus, M.A., parent of a child with special health care
Family Voices and Family-to-Family Health Information Resource Center at the
Network of N.J.; Olivia K. Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Library.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., MCH Library.