Poon, Kenneth K.

In this presentation, Ms Tan Peng Chian talked about “Including preschool children with developmental needs: Factors influencing teachers’ Intention and use of inclusive practices”.

Research focusing on the intervention and support of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has grown exponentially but this increase research has not been mirrored for adults with ASD. With the aims of informing intervention planning, improving quality of life, and areas for future research, 18 peer-reviewed research articles reporting the outcomes of adults with ASD were systematically reviewed. Despite methodological limitations, the literature review revealed a surprisingly high level of concordance in findings. Adults with ASD continue to experience significant degrees of impairment in the core deficits and correspondingly poor outcomes in social role attainment. Based on these findings, suggestions for the development of intervention and educational programs were proposed. Whilst no studies have targeted the quality of life of adults with ASD, the findings suggest a poor quality of life based on objective indicators. Directions for future research were also proposed.

This pilot study explored the feasibility and utility of conducting a longitudinal study tracking the progress of a potentially large group of preschoolers in Singapore.

"This was a pilot study designed to inform the possible design of a large scale longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of preschoolers in Singapore - Objective 1: To identify the most compelling issues in developmental outcomes for children in relation to the impact of the family/home environment, as well as early care and education experiences. This objective shaped the direction for addressing objectives 2-4: Objective 2: To identify and validate instruments to measure children's developmental outcomes Objective 3: To identify scales and design/pilot a survey instrument to measure family/home factors Objective 4: To design and pilot survey instruments to measure characteristics of early care and education institutions." -- p. 1.

There is increasing attention to, and acceptance of, that providing high quality early childhood intervention in a timely manner enhances the development and well-being of young children and their families. This paper covers the important topics in intervention and special education provided for young children from birth to six years old, as well as describes the local early childhood intervention system in Singapore. Based on a review of both local and international literature, this paper first provides an overview of the local early childhood education and early intervention landscape. After that, a brief summary is provided on the evidence-based practices in inclusion of children with developmental or special educational needs, identifying special needs in early childhood, personnel preparation and professional development, transitioning from early childhood to formal schooling, and family engagement and collaboration. Linking the findings from the literature to the local context, recommendations for advancing early childhood intervention services in Singapore are provided under each topic as well as summarised at the end of the paper.

Much of early childhood care and education policies and practices worldwide have been informed by a knowledge base derived from longitudinal studies of child outcomes in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries in the Northern hemisphere. There is an urgent need to acknowledge that research on young children in Singapore (as much as in other Asian contexts) needs to be supported by indigenous research to validate measures developed and normed elsewhere, and to verify and ascertain the factors that influence children’s developmental pathways across culturally diverse contexts. This pilot study, thus, set out to trial a selection of child measures, as well as design and pilot a parent survey that aims to yield useful baseline data on how families in Singapore are raising their 4-to-5-year-olds in this particular climate of academic pursuit and educational competition.