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Preschool children in need of special support: prevalence of traditional disability categories and functional

A Lillvist1, M Granlund

  • 1School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology, Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden. anne.lillvist@mdh.se

Acta Paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)
|September 2, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Many preschool children need special support due to undiagnosed functional difficulties, particularly in speech, language, and peer interaction. A functional approach is recommended over traditional disability categories for accurate prevalence estimation.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Special Education
  • Early Childhood Development

Background:

  • Preschools serve a critical role in identifying developmental needs.
  • Understanding the prevalence of special support requirements is essential for resource allocation.
  • Demographical and environmental factors within preschools may influence children's needs.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the prevalence of children needing special support in preschools (ages 1-6).
  • To identify the specific functional problems exhibited by these children.
  • To analyze these problems in relation to preschool context factors.

Main Methods:

  • A survey was distributed to 1138 preschools across two Swedish counties.
  • Preschool teachers' perceptions of children needing support were collected.

Main Results:

  • The majority of children needing special support were undiagnosed.
  • Common difficulties included speech, language, and peer interaction challenges.
  • These functional difficulties were prevalent across the surveyed preschool population.

Conclusions:

  • Both diagnosed and undiagnosed children present similar functional difficulties.
  • Traditional disability categories underestimate the number of children needing support.
  • A functional, needs-based approach is recommended for future studies and support identification.
Abstract

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