Pre-Conference Workshops

Advancing Inclusive Practices to Promote Social-Emotional and Behavioral Development
Presenters: Megan Vinh and Courtney O’Grady

In this session, we will discuss how there is need for continued support for early childhood educators so that as we work to eliminate practices such as suspension and expulsion, we provide early childhood educators with a toolkit of inclusive, proactive, and preventative strategies they can use in its place to promote social emotional competence. We will also address how exclusionary discipline disproportionately impacts young children of color and young children with disabilities. We will provide strategies to facilitate the meaningful inclusion of all young children. This includes strategies on how to seek additional support for children with disabilities who may have behavior viewed as challenging.

The Right Stuff: Evidence-Based Practices, Tools, and Strategies for Early Childhood Faculty and Professional Development Leaders
Presenters: Camille Catlett, Sharon Little, Kelli Odden, Samtra Devard

Does your job include preparing early childhood educators to recognize, create, implement, evaluate, and advocate for high-quality inclusive learning opportunities for each and every child and family? If so, this is the session for you. Presenters will share the latest options for incorporating inclusive teaching and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) 3.0 approaches in each course or professional development offering. The session will also include the highly rated tabletop conversations in which participants will be able to interact with content experts on topics of their choice, ranging from creating high-quality inclusive field experiences to engaging families as teaching partners. representation

Fostering Communication and Literacy Skills for Students with Complex Support Needs in Inclusive Settings
Presenter: Lisa Thompson

Students with complex support needs require a complex array of supports to access their environment, interact with others, participate in instruction, and communicate autonomously. They often have significantly less access to language, communication, and literacy interactions compared to their peers without disabilities. As a result, these students lag behind in their language development, communication, and literacy skills. They are frequently placed in separate programs, which limits their opportunities to interact with peers. 

Early childhood classrooms offer unique opportunities to foster language development and build literacy skills for all students, including those with complex support needs. In this session, we will explore current issues surrounding inclusion for this population, examine beliefs and attitudes that impact opportunities available to these students, and discuss practical strategies for promoting communication and literacy for students with complex support needs in inclusive settings.