Educational inclusion in Singapore for children with physical disabilities

Abstract

Under Singapore’s inclusive education policy, children with mild physical disabilities are integrated into mainstream schools. There is currently no known published research yet in Singapore on the outcomes of inclusion for children with physical disabilities. Internationally, recent research had compared the school experience of children with physical disabilities to that of their typically developing peers. This study examined the social and academic impact of educational inclusion for children with physical disabilities. It investigated how their participation in school activities, academic performance, self-esteem, peer relationships, and social/emotional development compared to that of typically developing schoolmates. A total of 60 clients (n = 30 with physical disability; n = 30 typically developing students; age range = 8 to 16 years) in a local primary and secondary regular school participated in the study. The children with physical disabilities met academic expectations in school and had comparable levels of self-esteem, but experienced peer problems and participated less in school activities. Understanding children’s overall school experience is critical to becoming an inclusive society that enables children with a range of disabilities to benefit academically and socially. Implications for practice and future research were discussed.

Keywords:

• Educational inclusion
• physical disabilities
• typically developing children
• academic outcomes
• peer relations
• self-esteem
• Singapore schools