Each year, the TASH Conference brings together our constituents to share resources and success stories, learn about field-driven best practices, and network within a community engaged in shared values. The Conference is attended by passionate leaders, experts, and advocates from every corner of the disability community. Conference attendees are influential in their fields and communities, and play an important role in the provision of services and supports for the millions of individuals and organizations around the world; and include professors and researchers from leading institutions; those involved in local, state, and federal governments and public policy; special and general educators, and school administrators; self-advocates, adult service providers; students, family members, and many others. This year’s conference theme, Building Diverse and Inclusive Communities, reminds us that equity, opportunity, and inclusion relies on the input of broad perspectives and experiences.
Research shows that early intervention (EI) and preschool special education services (from birth -5) (here referred to as ECSE) have a positive impact on children's progress as well as on empowering parents to advocate for their children. However, accessing ECSE services can be complicated by the need for collaborations between the many stakeholders involved in the referral and service provision process. Parents and guardians, medical clinicians, childcare providers and preschool teachers from one large, racially, culturally and economically diverse urban area were interviewed to understand the process of referral to and service delivery from ECSE. The perspectives of multiple stakeholders highlights the challenges of communicating concerns about development, ensuring that that the referral is made, accessing specialists, and closing the communication loop for parents, child care providers, physicians and special education service providers once services start. Suggestions on how to address these challenges and ensure that young children with disabilities and their families from a broad range of racial, cultural and economic groups are able to fully access the resources available to them.