Beneficial effects of inclusive preschools on the home environments of young children with and without disabilities

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to investigate the home environments of young children with (CWDs) and without disabilities (CWODs) with the aim of identifying the relationships between the development of children and their home environments. The study analyses further, whether inclusive preschools, as an intervention, have an influence on the quality of home environments of both group of children. The study is based on an assessment of the family homes of 61 pairs of CWDs and CWODs, using data gathered through the Home Screening Questionnaire-Turkish (HSQ-T) and the Gazi Early Childhood Assessment Tool (GECAT). The analysis revealed that the quality of the home environments of CWDs and CWODs is significantly different in favour of CWODs and that significant relationships exist between the HSQ-T scores and the language and socio-emotional development scores of the CWDs. A significant relationship was found between only socio-emotional development and home environment of CWODs. In addition, it was found that inclusive preschools influenced the quality of the family homes of not only CWODs but also CWDs.