Inclusion of Students With Intellectual Disabilities: Resources and Difficulties of Family and Teachers

Abstract

Educational inclusion is based on the principle that all students should learn together, in regular schools, regardless of their differences. The family-school partnership is an important factor associated with the success of inclusion. This study aimed to verify how the inclusion process of students with intellectual disabilities occurs, by identifying resources and difficulties, according to information provided by parents and teachers. This is a qualitative and cross-sectional study. Semi-structured interviews were done with 42 parents and 34 teachers of 44 students diagnosed with intellectual disabilities enrolled in regular public schools in a city in the interior of Minas Gerais. The data were analyzed in the Iramuteq software. Five classes were obtained by the parents’ interview: Family context, resources and parents' difficulties; Relationships with the school; Participation in schooling; Children's difficulty; and Path of diagnosis and follow-ups. Likewise, five classes in the analysis of the teachers' information: Understanding the inclusion process; School-family relationship; Difficulties in the inclusion process; Teachers' practices within the classroom; and Student development. The classes comprise themes related to the perception of participants. Parents pointed out difficulties in providing support to their children in the face of school adversities and as resource support in their relationship with the school. The teachers pointed out daily difficulties in the inclusion process and problems in the family-school partnership. It was possible to provide indicators of aspects of the inclusion process to provide subsidiary functions in this context.