Stimpson, K. (2016). EARLY INTERVENTION PROVIDERS’ EXPERIENCES AND PERCEPTIONS OF NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
The term natural environment has been a key component in the implementation of Part C early intervention, formerly known as Part H, since its inception in 1986; however, as Part C was reauthorized in 1997 and again in 2004, a clear definition of natural environments was still missing in federal legislation. The lack of an agreed upon definition of natural environments can create misunderstanding for early intervention providers. Misunderstanding of the term natural environment has led to early intervention providers having varied perceptions of natural environments as well as their professional role in these natural environments. Additionally, early intervention providers have varied educational backgrounds, experiences, and training that can affect their perceptions of natural environments. The purpose of of this study was to examine early intervention providers’ experiences and perceptions related to natural environments. This study was used to gain an understanding of what aspects of early intervention providers’ experience have the greatest effect on their perception of natural environments. Results suggested providers have concerns related to a clear definition of natural learning environments. Furthermore, the findings indicated that professionals have a desire to provide services in natural learning environments, but numerous challenges were identified within implementation of services. An overall pattern of results indicated the plausibility that collaboration between Part C agencies and provider networks has the potential to increase both the understanding of the term natural environments and the agreement related to best practices within natural learning environments.
