SPECIAL NEEDS

Early childhood educators are specialized and dedicated professional who can identify potential developmental delays and nurture children's talent boosting their confidence and providing essential tools for growth. Therefore this study examined the role of early childhood educator in identifying and supporting children with special needs within Oredo local government area in Benin city, Edo state. The objective of the study was to find out the influence of early childhood educators training on children with special needs, to determine the extent early childhood educators require special training to perform child support role on children with special needs, to determine the extent government support the training of early childhood educators, to determine parents and educators involvement in supporting children with special needs. Four research questions were raised for this study. The study used checklist and questionnaire which were structured from the four research questions as a mode of data collection to collect information from one hundred respondent selected from 20 private schools. The results from this study revealed that the early childhood educators training has influence on children with special needs, Finding suggest that early childhood educators require special training to perform child support role on children with special needs to a moderate extent, It also showed that government support the training of early childhood educators to a low extent. It was therefore recommended among others that regular workshops, seminars and fresher courses should be provided to equip educators with the necessary skills to support children with special needs