Experiencing Special Needs in Mainstream Primary Schools

Article type: Research Article

Authors: O’Toole, Ciara

Affiliations: Speech and Language Therapist, Southern Health Board and Cope Foundation, Cork

Abstract: From the middle of the last century there has been an increased focus on quality of life issues for people with disabilities – that they should have every opportunity to live as normally as possible and that they should be valued no less than any of their peers. Part of these experiences involves integration, which is the process where children with and without special educational needs are educated together in the mainstream school. Of prime importance for the success of integration are the attitudes of the mainstream children involved. This paper presents the results of a study of mainstream Irish primary school children’s attitudes towards children with a learning disability and educational integration. The results of this survey suggest that integration practices do not always result in positive or realistic attitudes towards people with a learning disability.

Keywords: Integration, learning disability, children’s attitudes

DOI: 10.3233/ACS-2000-10104

Journal: Journal of Clinical Speech and Language Studies, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 17-40, 2000