School placement and participation of Chilean young people with cerebral palsy

ABSTRACT

People with Cerebral Palsy (CP) face barriers to participate in social and educational environments. This study focuses on the contribution of school placement, controlling by motor functionality and receptive vocabulary, over several domains of participation. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 123 preadolescents and adolescents with CP, from both special and regular school systems of Chile. A quantitative approach was employed using standardised instruments (i.e. Life habits questionnaire, Gross Motor Function Classification System – Expanded and Revised, and Picture Vocabulary Test – Revised). Results suggest that preadolescents’ participation is significantly predicted by motor functionality and receptive language in all domains of participation, but for interpersonal relationship and community. For adolescents, school placement explained a significant amount of the variance for mobility, responsibility, and community participation, besides the variability explained by motor functionality and receptive language. Attending special schools exerts a negative influence on some participation domains, including mobility, responsibility, community life and recreation. Our findings support the importance of considering inclusive educational programmes as a critical aspect to improve wellbeing of people with CP, while also furthering their rights of participation.

KEYWORDS:

• Cerebral palsy
• school placement
• participation
• adolescents
• motor functionality
• receptive language

Acknowledgements

This research had the support of Instituto Teletón Concepción, Teletón-Chile and Secretaría Ministerial de Educación, Región del Biobío, Chile.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research of Chile (CONICYT), Proyecto Fondecyt 11110358.

Notes on contributors

Claudia Paz Pérez-Salas

Claudia Paz Pérez-Salas holds a degree in Psychology, and a PhD in Psychology. She is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology of Universidad de Concepción. She was the Director of the Master in Psychology (2013-2017) and the Director of the PhD in Psychology at Universidad de Concepción, Chile (2018-2019). Dr. Pérez-Salas has held two peer-reviewed grants in inclusive education, and she is a contributing author to over 40 articles. Her current research focuses on inclusive education, school engagement, and neuropsychological assessment of students with learning disabilities.

Alonso Ortega

Alonso Ortega is Professor at the Faculty of Medicine and researcher at Centro de Investigación del Desarrollo en Cognición y Lenguaje (CIDCL-UV) of the Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile. He obtained his doctoral degree at the Universität Bielefeld, Germany. His current research focuses on episodic memory and the standardization of neuropsychological tests.

Victoria Parra

Victoria Parra is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at Universidad Católica de Temuco. She is a Doctor of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She also holds a Master in Education from Columbia University. Her research interests include educational policy, early childhood, teacher education and accountability.

Peter Rosenbaum

Peter Rosenbaum MD, FRCP(C), is a Professor of Paediatrics, Canada Research Chair in Childhood Disability, and Co-Founder, CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster University, Canada. Dr. Rosenbaum has held more than 80 peer-reviewed research grants and is a contributing author to over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Since 2012 he has been a consultant to UNICEF’s Expert Consultation on the Collection of Data on Children with Disabilities. Dr. Rosenbaum’s accomplishments have been recognized nationally and internationally. He was the first Canadian President of AACPDM (1996-8); received the Ross Award from the Canadian Pediatric Society (2000); holds an Honorary Doctor of Science, Université Laval (2005); received the Academy’s Mentorship Award (2007) and its Lifetime Achievement Award (2014); and in June 2015, Dr Rosenbaum received the inaugural Holland Bloorview Medal of Excellence for “outstanding achievement and leadership in making positive global advancements in the field of childhood disability. The award is our Board of Trustees’ highest honour.”