Preventing exclusion: the role of therapists and parents in the inclusion of a disabled child in the education system

Abstract

Choosing an educational system for a disabled child already at the stage of pre-school education is a difficult and stressful experience for parents, which regardless of the final decision, raises many doubts. Certain questions arise: ‘where there is a place in the education system for the child with a disability certificate?’, ‘where the child can develop best?’, but also ‘where the child simply feels happy and does not experience exclusion?’. Many things depend on the level of the child’s disability, on key choices made by parents, and on the quality of cooperation, both in the three-way parent-therapist-child relationship, but also in the two-way parent-child and therapist-child relationships. Parents more and more often make decisions about inclusive education, where a child can develop amongst non-disabled peers. This article focuses primarily on the role of parents and therapists in the process of including a disabled child in the education system, the potential of cooperation, but also the fears, difficulties and expectations accompanying both sides.