Designed for early years' teachers and trainee teachers, this volume adopts a holistic approach and focuses on the child with special educational needs as an active learner, rather than on how to cope with a disability. It emphasizes that young children with special needs can be very active learners when provided with environments that encourage alternative ways to explore and experience the worlds around them. Specifically, the book addresses: (1) establishing a theoretical framework for understanding and working with young children with special needs; (2) presenting some of the major issues and concerns related to atypical development, including sensory, physical and neurological concerns, and social/emotional, speech/language, and cognitive concerns; (3) emphasizing the importance of the intervention team, including the home-school partnership and professional-home-school links; (4) viewing the child as an individual and how to make the learning environment accessible; and (5) providing for the professional development of teachers. Case-study examples are used throughout the book to illustrate different methods of intervention and relate relevant research and theory to actual practice. (Contains approximately 200 references.) (CR)