What does research tell us about the views and experiences of disabled children

1
What does research tell us about the views and
experiences of disabled children?
Dr Kirsten Stalker Faculty of Education University
of Strathclyde
2
Early research on disabled children

• largely pathological view of effect of disabled
  child on family
• largely pathological view of impact of impairment
  on child
• neglect of social and environmental factors
• tended to be atheoretical
• neglect of childrens own views

3
Developments over last decade

• international policy legislation
• rise of consumer movements
• theoretical insights
• awareness of power issues in research
• explosion of research about children

4
Current position - strengths

• guidance on how to do research
• studies seeking disabled children's views about
  services
• reveals differences from parents views
• children as researchers

5
Current position - limitations

• children in role of service users
• lens of impairment
• certain children tend to be excluded
• limited generalisability

6
Importance of family relationships

• accounts of close loving relationships
• parents often seen as over protective
• being treated as normal can also be
  disempowering.

7
Friendships

• friendship important to disabled children
• barriers to making/keeping friends
• relationships with non-disabled children

8
Importance of leisure

• children attend a mix of activities
• difficulty accessing inclusive leisure activities
• difficulty accessing youth culture
• significance of peer support
• time spent in adult company
• boredom/ isolation.

9
Adult surveillance

• disabled children spend unusual amounts of time
  supervised by adults
• can be a barrier to inclusion.

10
Bullying

• a lot of disabled children report bullying
• some deal with it or resist it
• impairment only one factor non-disabled children
  are also bullied.

11
Feelings of similarity and difference

• disabled children tend to present themselves as
  similar to others
• the management of difference
• other peoples behaviour
• do children lack a positive language to discuss
  difference?

12
Conclusions

• significant positive advances
• disabled children can give illuminating accounts
  of their lives
• they have complex lives and a range of diverse
  views
• not an homogeneous group
• other people shouldnt be treated as proxies
• still gaps in our knowledge, methods and
  theoretical frameworks.