"All the children [at the MSU Children's Center] will get just what they need to grow and develop into the wonderful people they have the potential to become."

-Antoinette Spiotta

Antoinette Spiotta has spent most of her career observing labels change. When she came to Montclair State nearly 30 years ago as co-teacher in the Demonstration Program, Spiotta met the nine children in her class, ages 5-8, who were labeled as communication handicapped. Now those same children might be labeled as autistic. She said children with disabilities started out in special education, and those who progressed could go into general education. That was called mainstreaming. Now the idea is to start out in general education classes and add supports. That is called inclusion.

Today Spiotta works with children who are diagnosed with autism or pervasive development disorder from birth through 5 years. She says the best case scenerio is to have children with disabilities working alongside their same-age peers without disabilities. She looks forward to the day when the Psychoeducational Center joins the campus Child Care Center in the University's new Children's Center, which will serve 300 children at a time.

She recently talked about her hopes for the new center and why Montclair State is the only campus in New Jersey with an early intervention program and a preschool specifically for children with autism that uses a relationship-based approach to learning.

Q: How close to reality is the new Children’s Center?
A: To date we’ve raised close to a million dollars, so we're about a sixth of the way there. Some donors, foundations and corporations provide matching funds, so even small gifts make a big difference. Our Development Office has been wonderful in terms of writing creative proposals and sending them to people who might be able to help. So, dollar by dollar, we’re moving ahead.

Q: Tell us about inclusion and what it means.
A: Children with disabilities belong, when possible, with their age mates who don't have identified disabilities, while getting all the supports and services they need. Early intervention services for children from birth to age 3 are provided in what we call the natural environment, natural meaning where children would be if they didn’t have a disability. They are with their family or in child care, on the playground, in the supermarket, doing the things children normally do.

Q: What can we expect to see at the Children’s Center?
A: When you walk through the door and see children playing together, you won't be able to pick out the children who have identified disabilities from the ones who don't because proper supports will be in place. The children for whom learning how to play is a challenge will have adults facilitating their play with other children. All the services from the Early Intervention and Demonstration programs will be merged and fused with the Child Care Center. The special education staff and the child care staff will be educated in dealing with a wide range of children. All the children will get just what they need to grow and develop into the wonderful people they have the potential to become. This is a whole societal change we're talking about, because it's inclusion of people with disabilities not only in schools, but in every facet of life.

Q: How close are we to having an inclusive, just society?
A: We've got good focus, but we have a long way to go. People with disabilities are invisible. If you watch someone with an obvious disability walk through a crowd, people don't look at that person; they look through that individual and behave as if that person is not there. The first look is an assumption that this person is not able. These are subtle things, but what we're working toward is that our first look at a person with a disability is an assumption that he or she is able.

Q: Why haven't other colleges in the state followed Montclair State's lead using a relationship-based approach to learning?
A: Other colleges typically use applied behavioral analysis because it's easier to do research around and about this approach. There's a pile of documentation about the effectiveness of applied behavioral analysis because it's an approach with discrete things that are easier to count and show. We work with things that are harder to count and objectify--in my mind the most important things. We want children to generate their own ideas and to have a joy about learning. How can you measure that? The pile to support the research we're doing may not be as high, but there is a pile. We work with all of our children as if they are the ones who are going to fly. And sometimes it happens.

Go back to the Insight index