Step by Step Integration of Handicapped Preschool Children in a Day Care Center for Nonhandicapped Children

This article reports the effects of step by step integration of cognitively and/or behaviorally handicapped preschool children in a day care program designed to serve nonhandicapped children. Four children attending a therapeutic preschool in the morning were selected and gradually integrated into an afternoon program at a nearby day care facility. Effects were measured using time sampling observational techniques. Results were mixed. Some negative effects were suggested by the data. The report concludes that integration on the preschool level in nonoptimal, practical situations poses some definite risks and drawbacks. Further research in such settings should precede the formulation of preschool integration as social policy.