“Preventive Action” as Support for Children with Developmental Disabilities:

Focusing on Interactions in an After School Day Care Center

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to clarify how teachers support children with developmental disabilities in an After School Day Care Center. By observing their interactions, I examined asymmetrical power relations between teachers and a child with a developmental disability in a support situation by using the concept called “cutting out operations” by Dorothy Smith. This research revealed one tendency of teachers’ behavior. Teachers intervene in a child’s behavior even if the latter have not yet caused any problems. I call this “preventive action.” In this action, the child’s interpretations of the situation are ignored and the child is disqualified from participating in the construction of social realities.

It is also important to consider the teachers’ intention behind their behavior. Teachers have seen some situations where children with developmental disabilities were not accepted because of their behavior in the community of an After School Day Care Center, so teachers think they should train the child to behave in ways that will be accepted by society in the future.

Although “preventive action” looks like behavior where teachers ignore and exclude the children’s interpretations from the context in which teachers and children interact, “preventive action” also means that teachers are attempting to help children be included in society in the future. This study shows that there is both a drive toward “exclusion” and “inclusion” in such support situations.

In addition, “preventive action” is based on the idea that the actions of children with developmental disabilities is impulsive. This paper points out that we need to change our way of understanding these children in a support situation so as not to exclude them.