Education and Intervention

Education is the key to learning and to a better life for children with an intellectual disability – as it is for any other child. Central to success in education is to understand how children grow and develop and how learning can be encouraged. It is important to find out how you can get the support and professional help needed.

Early intervention
Your child needs plenty of love and affection, praise and encouragement, a safe and healthy environment and chances to learn.

Among the range of early childhood services available from the Ministry of Education are its early intervention services. These include early intervention teachers, speech-language therapists and educational psychologists. They involve home visits and work with teachers and other staff.

Early education
Te Whariki, the early childhood curriculum, is designed to be inclusive and appropriate for all children, including those with special educational needs and learning disabilities. It sets out the learning experience goals for children up to school age, and identifies what a child needs to know and use later in life.

There are many types of early education and childhood services. Some offer full day education and care, some only part day. While some are led by trained teachers, in others education is provided by parents, whanau and caregivers.

Teacher-led education and care services include church, workplace and childcare centres, which may be run by community or private owners, or based on a specific culture or philosophy, such as Montessori and Rudolf Steiner centres.

Kindergartens are staffed by registered teachers and offer services to children aged between two and-a-half and five years.

Home-based services provide education and care for small groups, on both a full-day or part-day basis.

Parent-led services include play centres, kohanga reo, play groups and Pasifika early childhood groups. See www.ece.govt.nz

A national directory of family and community services, with over 4000 listings is available on www.familyservices.govt.nz/directory