Conference

2008 Safe Internet Use

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Highlights of previous SSBA conferences :-

2007 Developing a Parent Council and Encouraging Parental Involvement

2006 The Way Forward for Parental Involvement

2005 Parents in Partnership

2003 Partnerships and responsibilities

2002 SSBA is fit for the future

2001 Roadshow

2000 International
and published book
available here online

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Workshops
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"The world of the young disabled adults in Iceland"

Research background and a summary of the presentation: Abstract

Key words: Young disabled adults,disabilities, upper-secondary education / highschool / work / leisure, inclusion, active (learning) membership

My paper is based on part of my research into the world of the young disabled adult in Iceland who have grown up with the ideology of integration and inclusion as the law of the land. This is a qualitative study of the experience of being a young disabled adult (16-24 years old) in Icelandic upper-secondary schools, university or equivalent educational settin s, in the 'ob market and in society. I use qualitative methods,

largely influenced by grounded theory and hermeneutics. I try to use the term disability with caution since it is largely a socially constructed category. My interest is about situations and experiences for individuals who have impairments that lead to social discrimination, conditions more typically known as mental retardation (Intellectual disability), physical disability, sensory impairments such as blindness and deafness, cognitive disabilities, autism. Here I leave out people with mental health impairments who are certainly labelled disabled but who are not represented in this study.

I interviewed 35 young disabled people last spring and summer (1999) and am currently engaged in interviewing their parents, some teachers and friends. In the research I explore whether, how, and in which situations such young people see themselves, and are perceived by others (teachers, peers and parents), as fully participating 'active learning members' in the academic and social life of their schools. I also explore what they have in common across disabilities, and what may be specific to different young disabled adults due to the type of disability or social situation. I study how the upper-secondary schools attempt to meet the needs of disabled students, in terms of both learning support and social participation, and how, if at all, teaching and learning are planned to fit legal and practical criteria of social inclusion for a diversity of leamers. Finally, I explore the young peoples' ideas about their adult life, and how they compare their situation and possibilities to that of non-disabled

peers, and to the activities and learning that occurs in and around their schooling. The current formal frame of upper-secondary education available to disabled young disabled adults is described. The study also contains practical information on schooling of disabled young people in Iceland, and is aligned with the research and debate currently being carried out on inclusive schooling.

 I am a mother to a multi-handicapped son in a regular school - and, during the last four years, in regular colleges in Iceland and in America. That experience is one source of inspiration for this research (see D6ra S. Bjamason 1986). Another source is my interest in education, in particular the question of how regular schools can be improved so that they are in better harmony with the society around them. I feel certain that close cooperation, team-teaching and partnership between teachers, special teachers and others, both scholars and others such as parents, will characterise schools in the 21^st century, if normal schools continue as such. I believe that this is a prerequisite for increased flexibility in schools, and will enable teachers to organise their work better so that they can react more easily to differences between individuals.

My paper shares only a few of the many and rich themes that are arising from the data. These themes relate to the following issues; growing up disabled, parent and family, a parent advocate, compulsory education, college and further education life, friends, body image, love and sex, holidays and social activities, work, the service system and supports, self advocacy, adulthood. dreams and fears for the future. In the paper I will explore the young persons' perception of adulthood and how their own experiences and expectations fit in with it, how they expect themselves to be or become adults, and how their parents have become instrumental in defining that perception.

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