• Increased Motivation and Learning
  The benefits of education in an inclusive setting are substantial for young children with disabilities as well as their normally-developing peers (Guralnick, 1990; McLean & Hainline, 1990; Odom & McEvoy, 1988; Strain, 1990). An inclusive setting provides a wider variety of experiences than a segregated special education classroom. The child with disabilities benefits from the role modeling of typically developing children. The typically developing peers who can initiate and respond to social interaction motivate the child with difficulty communicating or developing relationships. Typically developing children benefit by having an opportunity to peer tutor or to strengthen their skills by assisting another child. For the peer this builds self-esteem, improves attitude toward school and responsibility, and has academic benefit.

• Improved Generalization of Skills
  The generalization of skills across people, settings, and time is often a problem for children with disabilities. Early childhood classrooms may, by design, offer a wider variety of settings and more natural timing for cues, as well as reinforcement, than can traditional early childhood special education classrooms. In the inclusive classroom there are many opportunities to teach and provide practice on skills across settings and events. The typically developing peers provide a variety of "teachers" which increases the chances for generalization.

• Facilitated Social Skill Development
  In an early childhood special education classroom, the child with disabilities has the opportunity to interact with a small number of children who also have some type of disability. In the inclusive classroom the child with a disability has increased socialization opportunities and the learning ground for improved social skills, due to the number and the skill level of the children present. Children in an inclusive setting have friends who save them a place at circle, ask them over to play on a Saturday afternoon, and invite them to birthday parties. These special friendships with typical peers cannot form in a segregated classroom for children with disabilities. In an inclusive classroom all children learn to respect differences in each other. Preschool children are at a critical readiness period for the experience of knowing, befriending, and respecting people or children with a wide variety of abilities.

Thompson, B., Wickham, D., Wegner, J., Ault, M., Shanks, P., & Reinertson, B. (1993). Handbook for the inclusion of young children with severe disabilities. Lawrence, KS: Learned Managed Designs, Inc.