Using “Snack Talk” to Support Social Communication in Inclusive Preschool Classrooms

Abstract

187 Vol. 22, No. 4, December 2019 YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN https://doi.org/DOI: journals.sagepub.com/home/yec Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions © Division for Early Childhood https://doi.org/10.1177/1096250617725503 DOI: 10.1177/1096250617725503 journals.sagepub.com/home/yec Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions © 2017 Division for Early Childhood Emma is a preschool teacher in a center that serves children with and without disabilities. She has put much thought into setting up her classroom to ensure that there are many opportunities for social interaction between children— she has arranged furniture in ways that encourage children to play together, plan for activities that foster relationships by requiring participation of two or more children, and regularly incorporate social skills instruction into her circle times. Yet she is not quite sure about how to support these skills during mealtimes. The children in her class are very diverse—several are learning English, three students use assistive technology to communicate, and one child, Richard, engages in high rates of challenging behavior during lunch and snack. Emma knows that mealtimes are natural routines where she and her team can focus on social skills, but how can she do this with such a wide range of students’ strengths and challenges? Inclusive early childhood programs strive to provide the necessary support for all children with disabilities to be successful alongside their typically developing peers. Although the benefits of inclusive educational programs for all children are clear, how to best measure the outcomes of children who participate in these classrooms has been debated. Schwartz and 725503 YECXXX10.1177/1096250617725503Young Exceptional ChildrenSnack Talk / Gauvreau research-article2017