Assessing the Comfort Zone of Child Care Teachers in Serving Young Children With Disabilities

Abstract

This study employed 2 methods to assess the attitudes of 52 general early childhood teachers serving young children with disabilities in inclusive early childhood settings. The first consisted of a structured interview using an index of functional child characteristics to assess professional comfort in serving an individual child. The second consisted of a rating scale to assess global attitudes toward the benefits and drawbacks of inclusion. Findings indicated significant differences in teachers' comfort levels as a function of severity of the child's disability across all domains. Predicted comfort scores were lowest when the child was reported to have severe to profound disabilities in the areas of leg functioning, muscle tone, and appropriate behavior.