Early intervention is of extreme importance for preschool children with special needs and risk factors. With appropriate early intervention, we can improve a child’s performance in a variety of developmental areas as well as empower the entire family. A special and rehabilitation pedagogue also plays an important role in this.
The purpose of the research was to analyze examples of good practice, accompanying barriers and problems encountered by special and rehabilitation pedagogues in early intervention. The purpose was also to evaluate the differences and similarities in the work strategies of special and rehabilitation pedagogues, both those who are involved in the project "Integrated early intervention of children with special needs and their families and enhancing the competences of professionals" as well as those not involved in this project group. The results were obtained with the help of a survey questionnaire.
22 special and rehabilitation pedagogues participated in the research. Of these, 9 special and rehabilitation pedagogues are employed in the program for preschool children with adapted implementation and additional professional assistance, 6 in the adapted program for preschool children and 7 in the developmental clinic or early intervention center. Of the 22 participants, 8 are involved in the project – 4 from the eastern and 4 from the western region.
The results showed that the pedagogues design most work programs by themselves. In the process of recognition, they most often assess play, cognitive, perceptual and motor development. They most often use non-standardized diagnostic tests. The frontal form of work and the play method predominate. All participants use help and support strategies in their work. We found statistically significant differences in identification procedures between special and rehabilitation pedagogues employed in kindergarten and those employed in developmental clinics. Employees in developmental clinics more often assess cognitive and perceptual development and more often use diagnostic tests, such as Token test, SDQ test, CTRS test. There are also differences in the conduct of hearings depending on the post they hold. Those employed in developmental clinics rarely work in groups, but they use the method of conversation more often than those employed in kindergarten. Apart from the choice of frontal form of work and the method of structured teaching, there are no significant differences between the team members of the eastern and western regions involved in the project. Team members from the western region use the frontal form of work more often and the method of structured teaching less often. There are also no differences in work strategies choices between special and rehabilitation pedagogues who are a part of the team and those who are not. Diagnosing or identifying preschool children with special needs was highlighted as one of the biggest problems in their work.
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