Social inclusion of children with complex needs in mainstream: does visibility and severity of disability matter?

Abstract

Objectives: Many children with complex needs (CN) are now educated in mainstream schools with social inclusion as a primary aim. However, evidence for positive outcomes is inconclusive, and a range of factors have been implicated, including the visibility and severity of a child's disability and the adequacy of support provided.

Methods: This study assessed the social inclusion by 528 typical classmates of 20 children with CN attending mainstream schools supported by an outreach service. Sociometry was used to assess dimensions of social inclusion in relation to the visibility and severity of a child's disability.

Results: Children with CN were found to have equivalent social inclusion to their mainstream classmates. Social acceptance was found to be associated with the visibility but not the severity of a child's disability.

Conclusion: Visibility of disability may be important to consider when planning social inclusion support. Paradoxically, children with less visible disabilities may require greater social inclusion support than their peers with more obvious needs.

Keywords:

• visible disability
• social inclusion
• social acceptance
• severe
• physical disability
• intellectual disability
• Down's syndrome