THE INTEGRATION OF PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS AND THE OPINIONS OF PARENTS AND SPECIALISTS

Pred vami je diplomska naloga, v kateri sem se opredelila na integracijo predšolskih otrok s posebnimi potrebami v redne vrtce. Osredotočila sem se na mnenja vzgojiteljev in strokovnih delavcev, ki so v skupini v stiku s temi otroki, ter na mnenja staršev teh otrok. Zanimalo me je, kakšne so njihove izkušnje in, ali so v integracijo pozitivno ali negativno usmerjeni. Povod za mojo diplomsko nalogo je bilo moje delo spremljevalke deklice s posebnimi potrebami, tako sem pri njenem nastajanju izhajala tudi iz svojih izkušenj. V vrtec, kjer sem delala, sta bila vključena dva otroka s posebnimi potrebami. Poleg moje deklice, je drugo skupino obiskoval tudi deček z Downovim sindromom. Še preden sem izbrala tematiko diplomske naloge, sem pozorno spremljala njuno življenje v skupini in vse, kar je s tem povezano. Pozorna sem bila na to, kako se vključujeta pri različnih dejavnostih, kje sta bolj in kje manj aktivna, kako jih sprejemajo ostali otroci v skupini ter na odnos vzgojiteljev in staršev. V okviru raziskave sem ugotovila, da so med mnenji sodelujočih, staršev otrok s posebnimi potrebami in strokovnih delavcev vrtca, določene podobnosti in pa tudi razlike. Vsekakor pa obe skupini zaznavata integracijo kot pozitivno. Starši in strokovni delavci so mnenja, da se otroci s posebnimi potrebami v skupini ostalih vrstnikov dobro počutijo in da jim obiskovanje rednega vrtca samo koristi. To pa kaže na to, da je integracija uspešna.Before you is a diploma work in which I focused on the integration of pre-school children with special needs to regular kindergartens. My focus is on the opinions of teachers and professionals, which are in contact with these children as a group and I also focused on the opinions of the children’s parents. My interest was what are their experiences and if their opinions about the integration are positive or negative. The reason for my diploma work was my job as a companion of a girl with special needs and so I could include my own experience in my work. The kindergarten where I worked had two children with special needs. Apart from my girl, there was a boy with Down syndrome in the group. Even before I chose the topic for my diploma work I was carefully observing their life in the group and everything connected to it. I paid attention how they participated in different activities, where they were more or less active, how the other children got along with them in the group and the attitudes of the teachers and parents. In the research I found out that there are similarities and differences in opinions of participants parents of children with special needs and professionals in kindergartens. However the both groups perceived the process of integratin as positive. Parents and professionals believe that children with special needs feel good in the group of peers and they also think that inclusion in kindergarten has benefits for them. All these indicate that integration has been successful