engleski

Quality of preschool inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorders and care services – Zagreb experience: reality and guidelines for improvement

Contemporary approach in preschool educational inclusion is based on the assumption that each child with learning disabilities who needs additional support has a right to be included into the regular preschool programs. Although the process of educational inclusion in the Republic of Croatia has been going on for few decades now, pupils with ASD are still very rarely included into the regular kindergartens and preschools. One of the possible explanations for such situation are particular needs determined by specific socio-cognitive functioning of these children. The other one is readiness and capability of the regular schooling system for ensuring supportive social context. Only systematic follow up studies and scientific evaluation can provide answers about the quality of preschool educational inclusion. The aim of this study was to investigate some quality aspects of inclusion of children with autism into kindergartens in Zagreb according to the reference model of care development for preschool children with ASD in Croatia. It will contribute the development of directions for establishing equalized and quality preschool inclusive model programs for children with ASD in eastern Europe. In the capital city of Zagreb, which counts around one million people (whole country more than 4 million) there are 60 preschool facilities for 34 000 children, 11 500 of whom are children with developmental disabilities included into the regular preschool programs. In order to obtain relevant data, the study is focused on all kindergartens in the municipality. Questionnaire consisting of basic information about children and variables covering 5 thematic fields: diagnostic status, type of program, additional specific support for children with ASD provided in kindergarten, types of social support for parents provided on the basis of child`s status. Descriptive statistical methods of analyses showed that in the regular preschool program, there are 156 children with ASD. Inclusion within groups regarding age, ranges from 22 months of age to primary school age. Methods of support to children and parents aren’t balanced in their quality and quantity. This research provides arguments which give guidelines for promoting inclusion, based on the further assumptions: early detection, screening, unique diagnostic protocol on national level, unique inclusion protocol for children with ASD in preschool facilities, the register of children with ASD, introduction of early intervention programs for children aged up to 3 in families, as well as the development of preschool inclusive programs tailored for each ASD child. Results of this study should be examined under the fact that the number of children with PAS or similar disabilities in this research is probably far smaller than their real number. It is also important to emphasize that this is a situation in country capital, while there are significantly less possibilities of inclusion into preschool educational system in other parts of the country.

autistic spectrum disorder ; quality of preschool inclusion ; Croatia

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