Adjusted school environment for students with severe motor disabilities
Titel:
Adjusted school environment for students with severe motor disabilities
Auteur:
Mattson, Eva Heimdahl
Verschenen in:
International journal of inclusive education
Paginering:
Jaargang 2 (1998) nr. 3 pagina's 237-253
Jaar:
1998-07
Inhoud:
This study concerns upper secondary school education provided for students with severe motor disabilities in specially adapted schools in Sweden. The aim was to see how the education affected the students with respect to their freedom of choice, participation and self-reliance. As a consequence of the relative handicap concept, an interactional perspective has been used in planning the study, as well as in discussing the results. The material was collected by interviewing students, and school, therapy and school boarding-house personnel. It also consisted of teachers' written case histories of the students' disabilities and their educational consequences. The result showed an obvious heterogeneity among the students with regard to their disabilities, knowledge, interests and preferences. This made demands on flexibility concerning educational organization, content and methods. The adjusted upper secondary school, however, showed various limitations in that area, both on the formal organizational plan and in implementation. It was obvious that the students in this type of school were more restricted in their choice of programme and actual educational situation than their peers in the regular upper secondary school. Another conclusion was that, if the organization was constructed for cooperation between different professional groups and these had common goals directed at satisfying students' needs, the students had more opportunity to influence their situation.
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