An empirical examination of toddler development in inclusive childcare

An increasing number of families are enrolling their children in out-of-home early childcare services. In addition, a growing number of community childcare programs are including children with developmental disabilities. While some studies have explored the effects of inclusion for preschool children with disabilities, there is little knowledge about the effects of inclusion for typically developing toddlers enrolled in such programs. We recently published a study examining parent perceptions of the benefits and limitations of their child’s toddler program (inclusion or typical), which found that parents were satisfied with and saw many benefits to inclusion. In the current study, we expand on that research by examining the social, behavioral, communication and cognitive development of toddlers enrolled in the same inclusion program. Scores on standardized assessments were compared with norms for those assessments, and outcomes indicate excellent gains in cognitive and language development and no detrimental behavioral effects of inclusion.