Background to the Research

• Educable were a group of nine young people with various disabilities who came together to carry out this research project. Save the Children and Disability Action set up the group, but the decisions about what to research and how to do it were left to the group. The group called themselves Educable and were facilitated by two Youth Workers from Disability Action and a researcher from Save the Children. The researcher helped guide the group on the different methods they could use to find out information, how they were going to research a topic and what they might research. After much discussion on topics the group finally agreed to research the following questions:
  • What choices do young people with a disability have in terms of school to attend and subjects to study?
  • How do these affect the choices young people have when they leave school?
    

Research Approach

• The group decided to use a qualitative method of collecting information. They felt the kind of open ended questions they wanted to ask were more suited to a discussion group. They thought this would help young people who were shy to open up.
• Due to time restrictions four special schools in the greater Belfast area were chosen for the study. Three of these schools were for children and young people with a physical or sensory disability and the fourth school was for those with a learning disability. Two of the schools were boarding departments which accommodate children from across Northern Ireland. The group also visited a day centre to talk to young people, under the age of 25 about their school days and also spoke to Disability Action's Young Women's group.
• Altogether Educable spoke to 50 young people (all of whom had a significant disability) during their research.
  

Main Findings

• The young people taking part in discussion groups in schools were aged between 15 and 19.
• They seemed to have had little choice about the school they attended. Many had been to the same school since they were 2 or 3 years old.
• Some students had been in mainstream schools in primary years and started in special school when going on to secondary level.
• Others had started in mainstream but had begun to struggle when they were 7 or 8 years old. Lack of access to appropriate aids and equipment were the main reasons for their move to a special school. For some it was a lack of vital physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy services.
• Another group of young people had attended mainstream schools until an accident or illness had made mainstream education difficult for them and they moved to a special school.
• Even when young people were able to cope with the work at a mainstream school, the way the other children treated them was sometimes a problem. This ranged from leaving them out at playtime to very nasty bullying.
• Some of the young people had happy memories of their time in mainstream school.
• A few young people got the chance to change schools if they wished, but decided not to, mainly because they thought they would not be able to cope with the workload in a mainstream school.
• None of the young people in the discussion groups complained about the pressure of school work. Some talked about homework taking up a lot of their time outside school hours. But none of the young people complained about the pressure of school work in the way non-disabled 15-18 year olds often do. When asked about the amount of homework they had, they were generally happy with it.
• The Educable group themselves commented that in their own experience there was little or no pressure put on them at school to study in the way their brothers or sisters did. They also referred to the length of time it took to do homework but said the actual amount of homework was small. They explained the length of time as being due to a lack of computers and other aids which they needed including, for some, personal support to help them study.
• Many young people were happy with their schools and said they preferred special school to mainstream. The fact that people at the school understand the effect a disability can have was important to the young people in the study.
• The close knit nature of the special school was enjoyable for many but could also cause its own problems. Several young people mentioned the fact that there were children and young people at most special schools with life threatening medical conditions. As a close community, the death of a pupil, or of someone who has left only recently hit the school population badly.
• In all the schools, young people said that there were few choices about the subjects studied and that in some schools the teachers made these decisions.
• Science was taught in special schools only as a very general subject. There was little chance of doing science GCSEs or A levels.
• In addition to the lack of subject choice, the Educable group found that teachers had low expectations for children and young people with disabilities. They weren't expected to do well in examinations and Educable felt that this could become a self fulfilling prophecy.
• Some young people were very angry about the way in which teachers assumed that disabled young people were not able for certain subjects and for exams, instead of trying to find a way round the difficulties caused by their disabilities.
• Some of the older students in special schools were not very happy and some felt they were not treated with respect.
• The young people interviewed identified the main problem as their lack of voice in the running of the school.
• When asked about leaving school most young people were planning to go on to some kind of further education.
• Seven young people were also interviewed in two different day centres. These young people had left school about three years ago. They all had learning disabilities. What came through from their experiences was that young people with learning disabilities feel even more let down by the education system than young people with physical or sensory disabilities. None of the young people spoken to had been offered any alternative to a day centre when leaving school.
• Young people with learning disabilities who had left school felt the school had let them down in terms of developing independence skills.
• Some of the young people interviewed in day centres were quite clear about what they liked doing but many were bored with what they spend their time doing in the day centre.
• While those with learning disabilities have the least choice, the choices of young people with a physical disability are also limited when they leave school.
• The segregation of young people with disabilities in special schools was mirrored in their social lives. They did not have many outlets for social activity outside of the school. Most of them spend their free time on their own or with family members. Most who do attend a youth club go to a club attached to their school or to a club organised by a disability organisation. Only four young people went to a mainstream club.
• The other leisure activity enjoyed by many of the young people was the cinema. Not all cinemas were accessible for young people with disabilities.
• The most frequently mentioned pastimes among young people in the study were watching TV, playing with computers, listening to music and shopping. Most of these activities were done alone or with family.