How Children with Restricted Mobility Perceive their School Environment

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to describe how pupils with restricted mobility perceive their school environment with regard to physical-technical and psychological-social accessibility. Ten pupils with restricted mobility in the age range 7-12 years (five boys and five girls) were included in the study. These pupils attended ten different schools (four pupils at junior primary school and six pupils at senior primary school). As an instrument, parts of BAS (assessment of adaptations in school environments), a semistructured interview guide, were used. Content analysis of the interview transcripts was carried out and could be clustered in five main themes: inner environment, outer environment, teaching situation, social contacts with peers, and relations towards personnel. The results showed that even though the interviewed pupils considered that the physical-technical school environment was generally satisfactory, it still led to the pupils being excluded from certain contexts, both teaching and play contexts. Problems with physical accessibility resulted in the pupils losing valuable opportunities for contacts and relations with friends, i.e. shortcomings in the physical environment had social consequences. The psychological-social environment was also generally perceived as being free of problems, with the exception that the interviewed pupils stated that they were sometimes teased because of their disability. The conclusion can be drawn that disability is something that occurs between the individual and his or her physical-technical and psychological-social something that occurs between the individual and his or her physical-technical and psychological-social environments, which to a certain extent can be remedied by making changes to these environments.

• Accessibility Disabled Children Physical Environment School Environment Social Environment