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Reflection

Take time to reflect on the work you have done in this course, what you have learned, and how your ideas about children with special needs and their families have grown and changed. Then read the points below, which are based what Heward terms: “assumptions that underlie and guide” his efforts “to understand, contribute to, and convey the field of special education” (Heward, 2009, pp. 3–4 ).

• All children have the right to an effective education.
• Special education must expand and improve the effectiveness of its early intervention and prevention efforts.
• School and family partnerships enhance both the meaningfulness and the effectiveness of special education.
• Children and adults with special needs have a fundamental right to live and participate in the same settings and programs —in school, at home, in the workplace, and in the community—as do children and adults without special needs.
• Children and adults with special needs have the right to as much self-determination as we can help them achieve.
• The future for children and adults with special needs holds great promise.

After you have carefully considered each of these points:

• Choose two that particularly ring true to you. Write about how your work in this course has helped clarify your understanding of each of the points you chose.
• Reflect on and write about what you will take away from this course as a whole to use in your future role as a child development professional, and how the young children and families you work with will benefit from the insights and knowledge you have gained.

Assignment length: 1–2 pages