This study is part of a research project called "Caring for children with physical disabilities in early childhood education: profile and teacher knowledge." The aim of this paper was to look at how children with physical disabilities are cared for within the context of early childhood education, focusing on how teachers view the importance of health professionals. This study adopted a qualitative approach using a case study methodology. The participants were eight teachers of children with physical disabilities, enrolled at a public early childhood education center in the city of Natal-RN. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews along with observations. The data were analyzed qualitatively based on two categories: caretaking of children with physical disabilities and the contribution of health professional within that context. The results showed that there is a need to include specific content in teacher education courses to enable them to learn how to deal with the particular aspects involving the care of children with physical disabilities, mainly those who have neurological sequella. The main aspects teachers should learn about include handling, transfer, assistance in locomotion, proper body positioning, etc. Moreover, the teachers' reports showed how important health professionals participating in the professional team were, especially physiotherapists, because of the information and specific supervision such professionals can provide about the physical disability conditions each child presents. This kind of collaboration was deemed to be significant in promoting effective inclusion for these children in regular schools.
early childhood education; child care; physical disability; health professional; special education
