Quest for Inclusion

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Quest for Inclusion
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• Children are likely to live up to what you
  believe of them.
• Lady Bird Johnson
• When I approach a child, he inspires in me two
  sentiments tenderness for what he is and respect
  for what he will become.
• Louis Pasteur
• Life affords no greater responsibility, no
  greater privilege, than the raising of the next
  generation
• Everett Koop

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Learning Outcomes

• Participants will have an understanding of the
  SpecialQuest Birth - Five Initiative and approach
  to inclusion
• Participants will learn how the NM State
  Leadership Team functions and how it supports
  inclusive practice
• Participants will learn how to access
  SpecialQuest Birth Five resources to assist
  with implementing inclusive practices in their
  community.

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• What are your thoughts and feelings about
  inclusion?

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• Creating Bright Futures

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Draft Definition and Position Statement on
Inclusion from DEC/NAEYC

• The defining features of inclusion that can be
  used to identify high quality early childhood
  programs and services include (1) access,
• (2) participation,
• (3) supports.

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History of SpecialQuest

• Be ever watchful for the opportunity to
  shelter little children with the umbrella of your
  charity. . . . For, as they must bear the burdens
  of our mistakes, so are they in their innocence
  the repositories of our hopes for the upward
  progress of humanity.
• Conrad Nicholson Hilton
•  

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National SpecialQuest BirthFive Vision

• States and local communities, including Early
  Head Start and Head Start programs and their
  community partners, collaborate to provide high
  quality inclusive services for young children
  with disabilities and their families.

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NM State Leadership Team Partners

• NM Head Start Collaboration Office
• NM Public Education Department , Special
  Education Bureau
• NM Department of Health, Family Infant Toddler
  Program
• NM Children, Youth and Families Department,
  Office of Child Development
• NM Early Childhood Higher Education Task Force
• UNM/Center for Development and Disability
• Parents Reaching Out (PRO)
• Education for Parents of Indian Children with
  Special Needs (EPICS)
• NM SpecialQuest Community Graduates Alamo Navajo
  Early Childhood Center and La Clinica de Familia
  Early Head Start
• Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)
• NM Association for the Education of Young
  Children
• NM Governor's Commission on Disability
• NM School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
• NM School for the Deaf

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Major components of SpecialQuest BirthFive
Vision

• SpecialQuest BirthFive Vision State Leadership
  Teams
• Ambassador Program and Graduate Activities
• Family Leadership
• SpecialQuest Community of Practice
• Materials Dissemination
• Continuous Improvement and Evaluation

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SpecialQuest Approach

• Head, Heart, and Hands
• Relationship and Team Based
• Parallel Process and Continuous Improvement
• Coaching, Facilitation and Follow-up
• Built on solid foundation

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Benefits

• More children with disabilities included
• Support for Families
• Increased Collaboration
• Training Opportunities
• Coordinated Efforts

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• I Wanna Be
• www.nichcy.org

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SpecialQuest Birth to Five Resources

• Website at www.specialquest.org (resource bank,
  discussions, communications kit)
• SpecialQuest Multimedia Training Library
• Ambassadors and graduate teams

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Wrap-up

• Continuous Improvement Feedback
• What worked well?
• Suggestions for improvement?

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What can you do to support inclusive practices?

• Together were better!
• Join the quest!