An ongoing interest in disabled learners' voices has been reflected in a number of studies that explore students' experiences of schooling, as part of the quest to understand how inclusive education can be achieved. These studies, however, have been conducted mainly in industrially developed countries, while very few studies exist from industrially developing countries such as Greece in which disabled people's voices are under-represented not only in political processes but in research as well. The aim of this study was to investigate disabled students' educational experience, their social interactions with peers and teachers, the choice of school and the support they received for responding to curricular demands and complexities. The results of the study confirmed that disabled students can provide invaluable information on matters involving their education, and showed how personal experiences of disability are influenced by the socio-cultural experiences lived in different social arenas, such as that of education.
Points of interestA number of researchers have suggested that listening to disabled students' voices may foster the proliferation of proposals leading to more inclusive educational models. Based on the above suggestion, the aim of this study was to investigate disabled students' experiences of schooling, their social interactions with peers and teachers, the choice of school and the support they received for responding to curricular demands and complexities. Thirty-two Greek young people with disabilities (17 females and 15 males) participated in the study. The results of the study confirmed that disabled students can provide invaluable information on matters involving their education, and revealed that disabled people do not comprise a homogeneous social and educational group because they each have their unique experiences and viewpoints. At the same time, participants' narratives showed how the personal experience of disability is constructed on the basis of the social experience lived in different social arenas.