Educational Paths for Children with Disabili-ties – Parents’ Dilemmas

Abstract

In the discussion on children’s rights to education, no one doubts that a disabled child has the same rights as any other child to learn in conditions adapted to their age and needs. Currently, in Poland, there are three systems of education for students with disabilities: a segregated education system – schools and special centers; an integrated education system – integrated schools and schools with integration departments; an inclusion education system – mainstream schools. When a child has the choice about the need for special education, only parents or legal guardians have the right to decide on the choice of educational path. Two main objectives were formulated in the undertaken research: learning the motives of parents with children with a moderate intellectual disability in choosing a particular type of school and examining the extent to which they benefited from support in making this decision. The research material was collected thanks to the use of an interview questionnaire. The research group consisted of parents, mainly mothers whose children were in the first stage of education. Three subgroups of respondents were distinguished, the first subgroup were mothers whose children were covered by special school education, children of the second subgroup of mothers attended an integration school, the third subgroup were mothers whose child enjoyed an inclusive education in a public school. The obtained research results prove that the decision to choose the educational path of one’s disabled child depends on many factors, depending on the type of facility chosen.