The purpose of this study was to understand how the children with special needs kindergarten with special education programs received the transition services through the in-depth interviews with 5kindergarten teachers who had taught the children with ...
The purpose of this study was to understand how the children with special needs kindergarten with special education programs received the transition services through the in-depth interviews with 5kindergarten teachers who had taught the children with special needs in the inclusive settings and 5 early childhood special education teachers. The results of the analyzed interviews were as follows. First, very few teachers were aware of the type of the transitions and the precise concept of the transition, and the transition programs were rarely practicced in the field. Second, the information and the data for the transition were mostly the consultation with parents, and the teachers collected the necessary information through the internet and the related books. Third, there was little collaboration among professionals and the collaboration systems among the programs during the transition process of children with special needs. However, there was some limited collaboration between the teachers in the inclusive programs and the early childhood special education teachers. This limited collaboration suggested the urgent needs for transition services from the planning stage, the collaboration among professionals and the programs, and the well-planned and coordinated transition programs. Fourth, the family liaison and the collaborative participation occurred before the school began and the beginning of the school in the process of collection the information on the children with special needs through formal or informal contacts with parens. In the middle of the school year, the teachers regularly sent the education plans home and the brief contacts with parents in the mornings or dismissals. However, the degree of collaboration was only the minimum of the perception and understanding of the children with special needs. The necessary collaboration regarding the transition among the programs and the family were not active. Fifth, the follow-up after the transition was extremely limited that more administrative and financial support systems were needed.