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At the beginning of 1993 the Executive Committee of ICEVI appointed me Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Early Childhood. This report presents in a condensed form the work of the Committee since the establishment.
The following persons have served the Committee: Dr. Michael Brambring (Germany), Mrs. Marilda Bruno (Brazil), Mrs. Marianna Buultjens (United Kingdom) and Mrs. Mercé Leonhardt (Spain). They have all been appointed by me, the chairperson, due to their well known knowledge in the field of early childhood. Mrs. Buultjens has also served as the secretary of the Committee.
The first meeting with the Committee was held in September 1994 at Tomteboda Resource Centre in Solna, Sweden.
The first meeting had two aims:
1. To prepare a proposal for early intervention material for young visually impaired children which could be used all over the world, regardless of culture and economic development.
2. To prepare a first draft of an Early Childhood Programme for the 10th World Conference in 1997.
Each member of the Committee brought a range of illustrated material to the meeting. A considerable amount of materials was also sent to the Committee from ICEVI representatives all over the world as well as from other people and organisations involved in Early Childhood Education (VI). After careful consideration, the literature available was classified into the following categories:
Research-based books
Sophisticated and comprehensive
intervention programmes
General books for professionals
and parents
Books for parents
Early Intervention Booklets
At this first meeting considerable time was spent on discussing and defining different words and concepts of relevance for the future work in the Committee. This was especially important as the members of the Committee not only represent five different countries but also have five different mother tongues. This discussion was also of great importance in order to establish a common framework for the intended booklet to be published.
The Committee agreed to submit
the following themes for an Early Childhood Programme at the 10th World
Conference:
- Prevention
- Interdisciplinary Programmes in Early Intervention
- Assessment
- Family Focus- Social and Cultural Aspects
- The Reflective Practitioner
in Early Intervention
- Models of Early Intervention
Services in different parts of the world
- High technology and Alternative Technology in Early Intervention- Training of Early Intervention Personnel
A report from the first meeting was distributed to all contact persons in each region of ICEVI. Unfortunately, the plea for comments did not exactly fill our mailboxes.
The second meeting was held in Budapest, Hungary, in July 1995 in conjunction with the ICEVI European Conference. At this meeting we carefully examined the outlines of the booklet decided on when we met in Sweden. It was decided that we go on along the lines previously decided, i.e. a simple illustrated booklet for parents of young blind and visually impaired children and youth. Hence, the work was concentrated on identifying topics. As the time available for the meeting was limited, the Committee asked Dr Brambring to prepare a list of topics. Each member of the Committee also agreed to submit an outline to be discussed at the next meeting.
Another topic for the meeting was the 10th ICEVI World Conference in Sâo Paulo. An estimation done by the Committee at that time indicated that at least 14 hours (including a Focus Day) could be used for Early Childhood.
The third meeting was held only a few months later in Bad Berleburg, Germany, in connection with a European Blind Union conference on Early Intervention Systems in late November/early December 1995.
As the structure and the written content of the booklet at this time started to become clear, we did pay quite a lot of attention to the illustrations. A great proportion of the target group of the booklet has limited, or even no reading skills. The book must therefore contain quite a lot of drawings as they can be made less culturally dependent than photographs.
A Committee meeting was scheduled to be held in connection with the International Mobility Conference (IMC 8) in Trondheim, Norway, in May 1996. Unfortunately, only two members of the Committee were able to attend this conference. Only an informal discussion was consequently held.
When this report was written in March 1997, the work was concentrated on putting together text with drawings for a draft to be circulated among the members of the Committee. Our intention is to have a sample of the booklet ready for presentation at the 10th World Congress in Sâo Paulo in August this year.
I would like to take this
opportunity to thank all the members of the Committee for their contributions.
It has been a privilege to be the chairperson of a Committee with such
dedicated people. English has been the working language
of the Committee. All of us in the Committee who are not English speaking
since early childhood are in great debt to Marianna Buultjens.