Grant: Emerging Team Grant: Children with Disabilities (Bright Futures for Kids with...

The HELPS Inc. project has brought together an exciting team that includes parents, researchers, healthcare professionals, educators, and students. There are five centres (Kingston and Toronto, Ontario; Montreal and Trois Rivières, Québec; and Halifax, Nova Scotia). The focus of the research is on the inclusion needs of preschoolers with developmental delays or disabilities (DD) as they make the transition into school. There are several major goals for this research. First, we will describe the social inclusion of preschoolers with DD in social, recreational and educational settings. Secondly, we will identify the knowledge, beliefs, challenges and actions taken by parents and professionals that help to promote social inclusion of preschoolers with DD during the transition into school. Thirdly, based on the information we gather, we plan to develop educational resources for parents, healthcare and education professionals and students that will help to increase their knowledge and provide them with strategies for more effective collaboration and promotion of social inclusion. Throughout the project, we plan to make the information we collect as widely available as possible. Findings from this project will have important implications for parents, healthcare professionals, educators, and those who provide services and make policy decisions. This project will build a strong foundation for future research and practice.