Early Steps of SWFL

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The Southwest Florida Early Steps program serves infants and toddlers in Collier, Glades, Hendry, and Lee Counties and is part of the Florida Early Intervention Program. Florida's Early Intervention Program is improving its service delivery system to better support infants and toddlers and their families - in places where they live, learn and play. An enhanced family-focused early intervention system called Early Steps has replaced the former Infants & Toddlers Early Intervention Program with a new Mission, Vision and Values.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Resources for Early Childhood Inclusion is now available on line


July 18, 2011



Dear Early Learning Partner:

We are excited to announce that Count Me In: Resources for Early Childhood Inclusion is now available on line at:


The purpose of this compilation is to answer questions and provide general information to families and early learning providers on how to successfully include young children with disabilities in early childhood programs.   Content areas include:

·         A Definition of Early Childhood Inclusion

·         Florida Resources to Support Inclusive Environments

·         Information Specifically for Families

·         Training Materials and Resources

·         Contact Information for Who Can Provide Support

·         Details on State and Federal Legislation on Inclusion

You may recall our recent announcement of the “Expanding Opportunities for Children Birth to Five” awareness flyer on the benefits of inclusion to children, families, professionals, and communities (available in English, Spanish and Creole). This is now one of the many materials available on Count Me In for family members and early learning providers to access and share. 

Please take a few minutes to browse this virtual resource.  Be thinking about how you can use it.  Maybe you have a professional development activity or event coming up and you need some helpful material.  Or maybe you’re planning course content as you prepare to teach a class on early childhood inclusion.  This would be a great place to search for video clips or short training modules on how to implement inclusive practices. 

Or maybe you’re a district or community provider who is looking for tools on how to collaborate with other early learning partners to increase inclusive placement options for young children.  See what states such as California, Delaware, Maine and Virginia have to offer in terms of community planning guides and assessments (and while you’re at it, be sure to check out a nationally recognized resource that was developed by our own folks here in Florida! http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/PreK-disabALL.pdf).

Our goal is for Count Me In to be your ‘go to’ place for information on early childhood inclusion.  We commit to be current and will continually add promising information and resources as they become available.  Please help us in this quest by sharing materials you love and think we should add by sending them to the Florida Central Directory: lalong@centraldirectory.org

We also value your input and are invested in doing what we can to support early childhood inclusion in Florida.  Please share your ideas with us!

Sincerely,

Members of the Florida Expanding Opportunities for Early Childhood Inclusion

Professional Development Workgroup

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