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ERIC Number: EJ1280077
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Dec
Pages: 13
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1096-2506
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Supporting Young Children with Disabilities and Their Families from Undocumented Immigrant Backgrounds: Recommendations for Program Leaders and Practitioners
Cycyk, Lauren M.; Durán, Lillian
Young Exceptional Children, v23 n4 p212-224 Dec 2020
More than 42 million immigrants live in the U.S.--roughly 13% of the total population (U.S. Census, 2015). Most are legal residents and, yet, over 11 million immigrants are considered undocumented, defined as foreign-born noncitizens who did not legally enter the U.S. or stayed past an authorized date (Baker & Rytina, 2013). Undocumented immigrants primarily come from Latin America (52%) but also from Asia (30%), Europe (12%), Africa (4%), and Canada (2%; U.S. Census, 2015). At least 5.1 million children (7% of all U.S. children) have one parent who is undocumented; the vast majority of these children are U.S. citizens (Capps, Fix, & Zong, 2016). Current prevalence statistics on childhood disability suggest that upward of 765,000 children of undocumented immigrants may have special needs (Bitsko et al., 2016). Families of undocumented immigrants also face contextual challenges in the U.S. that threaten the development of their children. These challenges result from macrolevel policies and laws that marginalize immigrants, undermine families' resilience, and amplify the number of stressors experienced by their children (Vesely, Letiecq, & Goodman, 2017). Emerging evidence suggests that the recent heightened antiimmigrant sentiment is decreasing enrollment, attendance, and family participation in early childhood programs (Cervantes, Ullrich, & Matthews, 2018). This article examines how the progress of children with special needs is threatened. In order for Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education (EI/ECSE) programs to best support children from immigrant families, three complex and long-standing structural barriers that hinder child development must be understood: (a) deportation and family separation, (b) economic insecurity, and (c) limited navigational capital.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A