“Special Support” in Preschools in Sweden: Preschool staff’s definition of the construct

Identifying Patterns of Emotional and Behavioural Problems in Preschool children : Facilitating Early Detection

“…Children in Swedish preschools are entitled to either indirect or direct special support. This can take the form of general activities among all the children in the group (indirect special support) or specific interventions to meet specific needs of a child (direct special support) (Sandberg, Lillvist, Eriksson, Björck-Åkesson & Granlund, 2010). No exact information can be found in the curriculum as to how to design special support; rather, this is left to the discretion of the teacher at each preschool along with heads of staff, who have knowledge of the curriculum, didactic skills and children's development and learning (Sheridan, Williams, Sandberg & Vuorinen, 2011).…”

“…The child's potential need for special support is often assessed by preschool staff and is based on the child's potential behavioural or peer problems ). Based on the child's individual characteristics and everyday level of functioning, as well as in relation to environmental resources, the most common reason for being given help is peer problems and hyperactivity (Sandberg et al, 2010).…”

“…The stability in behaviour problems seen in the present study dispute this reasoning. Other explanations might be related to differences in socioeconomic status between groups, differences in children's mental health and parenthood in different ethnic groups (Williams & Collins, 1995) as well as differences in what is considered to be a special need in relation to other children in the same group (Sandberg et al, 2010).…”

Special Support for Behavior Difficulties and Engagement in Swedish Preschools

“…Plans frequently focus on skills training. Preschool staff are relatively seldom involved in the decision-making process (Sandberg et al, 2010). They may however implement the intervention plans within the everyday preschool context, under the supervision of the external support services.…”

Special Educational Needs and Support Provisions in Swedish Preschools: A Multiple-Case Study

“…The researchers concerned with these topics have described the teachers' view of educational support to children in need of special support (Sandberg, Norling & Lillvist, 2009), the preschool staff's definition of special support (Sandberg, Lillvist, Eriksson, Björck-Åkesson & Granlund, 2010), the inclusion of preschool children with autism and the attitudes and perceived efficacy of preschool teachers (Engstrand Zakirova & Roll-Pettersson, 2012), in addition to the disabled children's play and activities in preschools (Skogman, 2004). However, at this moment there is a lack of studies that describe didactical aspects of support provisions in inclusive preschools attended by children with special educational needs and disabilities.…”