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Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

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Research Review Article

Research in Education of Children

with Disabilities
Ittira Poovaiah Gowramma*, Elizabeth Gangmei**
and Laxmidhar Behera***

Abstract
The review presents a systematic and comprehensive framework
concerning the state of research in the field of education of children
with disability/disabilities (CwD/CwDs) from the year 2000 to
2017, with a view to identify the key areas and generate questions
for future research. Published studies, doctoral dissertations and
institutional research were considered for mapping the current
status. The analysis indicates that the area of study is expanding
reflecting tremendous growth, research percolating various aspects
of disability with a focus on empowering them through education.
The time following the global flagship of Education for All (EFA) with a
rights based approach for disability has made significant contribution
to expansion of research ideas and scope. Fostering learning through
various strategies, understanding the relationship of psychosocial
factors in development and learning, academic performance, impact
of significant people in development, and supporting learning through
material development emerged as prominent choice of researchers.
However, the analysis also shows that the research still seems to
be considering disability as a deficit, and the need for shifting the
focus to capacity approach by magnifying personal capabilities and
dignity of CwD is strongly felt. There is paucity of researches based
on critical perspective, serving both informative and transformative

* Professor, Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar (e-mail:

[email protected])
** Assistant Professor, Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar (e-mail:
[email protected])
*** Associate Professor, Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar (e-mail:
[email protected])
Acknowledgment: The support received from Gautam Kumar and Tanushree
Mohanty, Junior Project Fellows is acknowledged.
Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

role. In order to fill the void empirical studies regarding the proactive
measures that students with disability/disabilities (SwD) use to
maximise their potential in personal, social and academic arena
needs to be taken up in the future.

The challenge of addressing diversity among the learners continues

to be a major concern in education. The concern has been spelt
out in major international declarations and documents where
India is a signatory, such as World Declaration for Education for
All (1990), UNCRPD (2006) Global Monitoring Report (2006) and
Millennium Development Goal (2015). The major focus of all these
documents and reports are children with ‘disability’. Learners with
disability continue to appal us with their special needs and unique
way of learning. As such, they are vulnerable to drop out or being
pushed out from the school system. As per an estimate, people
with disabilities in India are enormous with 3–4 per cent, bringing
the scale of problem to a conservative estimate of 40 million (Alur,
2009). What is more important is the exact incidence and prevalence
of different disabilities, their placement in an educational set up
in special school, inclusive school or home-based instruction,
appropriate utilisation of aids and appliances, their participation
in school activities, higher education options and challenges faced
by teachers, parents and students themselves.
This review presents the trend analysis of research under
education of children with disability. Here, research carried out under
special education, integrated education, special needs education and
inclusive education are considered. In India, literature on inclusive
education used the term children with special needs as synonymous
with children with disabilities (Singal, 2005). Salamanca statement
and framework for action on special needs education (UNESCO,
1994) uses the term ‘special educational needs’ to include all those
children whose needs arise from disabilities or learning difficulties.
Moreover, all the national and international documents including
the latest Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPwD, 2016)
uses the term ‘disability’. Based on these legal documents and to
specifically focus on the target population, the term disability is
used throughout this chapter.

Historical Overview
In India, the marginalisation of persons with disability (PwD)
is compounded by poverty, gender, caste and community.

8 Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018

Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

Buckingham (2011) argues that disability is like race or gender,

an analytical tool to understand oppression and disempowerment.
Buckingham perceives history as a critical factor in affirming
the right of Indians with disabilities to full social and economic
participation. There is a need to look beyond welfare paradigm
and move ahead to investigate disability as an aspect of rights.
Even though the history of education of CwD in India dates back
to the 1880s when schools were started for them as a charitable
cause relying on voluntary agencies, the core idea of rights-based
participation of PwD is yet to be achieved. Important initiative is
the education of CwDs getting a mention in the national education
system for the first time by the Sargent Report (1944), followed
by the Kothari Commission or Education Commission (1964)
recommending their inclusion in regular schools. Since Integrated
Education of the Disabled Children (IEDC, 1974), National Policy on
Education (NPE, 1986) and constitutional amendments thereafter,
providing community participation at the elementary level, several
policy and legislative changes have touched upon the hitherto
neglected children with disabilities. A decade from 1990 to 2000
paved the way for radical changes with Rehabilitation Council of
India (RCI) Act (1992), Persons with Disabilities (PwD) Act (1995),
merging of IEDC with District Primary Education Programme
(DPEP, 1997) and National Trust Act (1999).
The global EFA (2000) movement reciprocated in our country
under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA, 2002). World Conference on
Special Needs Education at Salamanca (UNESCO, 1994) added
momentum to the change wave by highlighting the unique learning
needs of every student and education system to accommodate the
wide diversity by adopting student-centred pedagogy capable of
meeting these diverse needs. With this inclusive orientation to the
education system, it was envisaged to build an inclusive society
and achieve Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE) as
a cost effective alternative. In 2005, the Central Advisory Board
on Education (CABE) observed that all children experience special
needs at some point of time and it may not arise from disability
only and thus the philosophy of inclusion is a gain for all. It further
recommended Universalisation of Secondary Education (USE) for
girls and those with disabilities on the grounds of equity and social
justice. After the implementation of the flagship programme of SSA
for elementary level, the centrally sponsored scheme of inclusive
education of the disabled at secondary stage (IEDSS, 2009) was

Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018 9

Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

merged under Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA,

2009) to enable students with disabilities to continue secondary
education in an inclusive environment. Another significant move
at the international level, United Nations Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD, 2006), to which India is a
signatory, mandated to implement the provisions by harmonizing
Indian laws with it resulting in RPwD Act(2016). In addition,
education of CwD is now an integral part of the international
discourse, as noted in the Sustainable Development Goals
(United Nations 2015a) and the Incheon Declaration (UNESCO,
World Education Forum 2015, Ministry of Education, Republic of
Korea 2015).
In the policy and programmes of the first decade and a half
of the millennium, there is an indication of growing awareness
for the critical need to envisage positive rights to PwD. With the
landmark legislation RPwD Act (2016), it is expected that progress
in education through prevention, intervention and remediation will
take a turn changing the framework for education of CwD. Policies
and programmes need to be experienced by the stakeholders
and reach the unreached; the priorities as it stands today are
multi-faceted. To strengthen policy, recommendations from
contemporary scientific research are significant.
Earlier, in India, the area of children with disabilities did
not attract much attention of the researchers. The third survey
of educational research (1978-83) reported 12 studies in three
different chapters. The fourth survey (1983-88) carried a chapter
on special education reporting only 16 studies. Up to fourth
survey of research in education, 60 studies were identified (Jangira
and Mukhopadhay, 1991). A total of 77 studies were included in
the fifth survey (1988-92). The sixth survey (Swarup 2002) from
year 1993 to 2000 under the heading Inclusive Education reported
a positive trend towards inclusion of children with disabilities from
the perspective of peers, teachers and administrators. The survey
covered a broad range with a focus on specific disability areas and
giftedness, and covered varied target group of parents, families
and community from special and integrated education. Only those
studies with the title ‘inclusive’ were put under inclusive education.
Awareness on policies and provisions for children with disability
was low among educators along with several identified factors
influencing the perception of teachers on feasibility of inclusive
education. Another significant observation made in the sixth

10 Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018

Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

survey was that most of the researches reported under inclusive

education are action research. Very few studies which had been
documented used the term integrated, mainstreamed and inclusive
education. Research conducted during 90s is either at awareness
level or exploratory nature. A need was felt for undertaking specific,
precise and scientific researches. Need for large scale scientific
research, material development including multimedia packages
for different target groups for attitudinal change to be tried out
and curriculum development were the areas identified for future
studies. The administrative and management aspects of inclusive
education at micro and macro level were identified as priority areas
of research.

The International Perspective

Education of children with disabilities is an integral part of
international discourse (Sustainable Development Goal, UN
2015a) on education. Education of CwD is not of the recent origin
as evidenced in the EFA declaration that the learning needs of
children with disabilities demand special attention (UNESCO,
2000). “The Right to Education for Person with Disabilities:
Towards Inclusion” is a flagship effort spearheaded by UNESCO,
as well as the International Disability Organisation (IDO), UNICEF,
the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD).
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(2006), with a focus to ensure that PwD enjoy human rights on an
equal basis with others, is the first human rights convention of 21st
century and the first legally binding instrument with comprehensive
protection of the rights of PwD (History of Disability and the
UN, 2008). Its main goals are to ensure that the international
development programmes are accessible to PwD and inclusive in
nature, to facilitate cooperation in research and access to scientific
and technical knowledge and to provide need based appropriate
technical and economic assistance. However, as Rieser (2012)
observed, though there is a flagship initiative to include CwD in
EFA since 2001, it remains largely ineffective. According to Plan
International Report (2013), children with disabilities are 10 times
more likely not to attend schools than children without disabilities.
Similarly, children at risk of disability are observed to be far more
likely to be denied a chance to go to school (GMR UNESCO, 2014).
Tamosevski (2003) attempted to look at the reasons for out of

Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018 11

Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

school CwD from the point of view of human capital theory and
observed that countries see the viability commercially in terms of
expenditure made and learning in the form of return.
The current focus of research in neuroscience is mainly on brain
biology and environment factors responsible for the developmental
disorders as well as strategies and treatments that best address
them (Healey, 2009), which is highly relevant for special education.
A comprehensive prevention model evolved from prevention science
is emphasised in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA
Act, 2004) and was also adapted by education law in the states
of the USA (Shulte, 2016). This model is based on, Response to
Intervention (RtI), and follows a multi-tiered system of support that
is introduced as a framework for school-wide service delivery for
all students (Jimerson, et al, 2015). There is also a move towards
focusing on learning rather than deficit in a student. As envisaged
by Rose and Meyer (2006) through universal design of learning
(UDL), in environments such as schools, individual variability is
the norm, not the exception. When curricula are designed to meet
the needs of all learners, pedagogy would address the reality that
is the learner variability. It may, however, be noted that there
are more similarities than differences in the Western countries
(Chennat, 2017).
Objectives of the Review
This review was conducted with the following objectives.
1. To identify the themes of research in areas of different
disabilities, the design and outcomes of research conducted
during the period?
2. To study the extent to which research in the area of education
of children with disabilities enhance our understanding and
provide ideas for innovative and need based practices?
3. To examine whether the research trends in education of children
with disabilities influence educational research as a whole,
educational policy planning and implementation in particular?
Methodology
The materials, resources for the present review were collected
based on the following criteria:
• Research conducted/articles published/presented during 2000–17;
• Studies/published articles related to education either directly
or indirectly of children with disability;

12 Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018

Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

• Only those articles/papers/abstracts having required details

(year, context, complete publication details);
• PhD and MPhil dissertations;
• Institutional research reports, books, articles published in
journals and documents (International and National).
Abstracts and PDF from Online sites like http://shodhganga.
inflibnet.ac.in/, https://eric.ed.gov/, https://www.tandfonline.
com/, http://academic.research.microsoft.com/, https://scholar.
google.co.in/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed, http://
journals.sagepub.com/, https://www.researchgate.net/, https://
books.google.co.in/, https://www.sciencedirect.com/, https://
doaj.org/, http://www.jurn.org, https://www.base-search.net/?l
=en, http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/index, etc.

Prevalence and Participation of PwD in Education

The Census 2001 focussed on five categories of disabilities only.
However, the number of categories increased to eight in 2011
covering those coming under PwD Act (1995) and National Trust
Act (1999). Though not comparable due to variation in tool in the
two censuses, there is an increase in the percentage of PwD from
2.13 per cent in 2001 to 2.21 per cent in 2011 (Table 1) compared
to a decade ago was recorded at 2.12 per cent (Table 2).
Table 1
Population by Residence and Sex with Decadal Change
Group Census 2001 Census 2011
Urban 2.21 2.24
Residence
Rural 1.93 2.17
Male 2.37 2.41
Sex
Female 1.87 2.01
Total 2.13 2.21

The decadal growth depicts an increase in both urban and

rural population of PwD with higher proportion in rural areas and
among females. It is hypothesised that the increase in incidence
of disability could be due to improved diagnostic and reporting
procedure, increased survival rates of infants and complications
following maternal substance abuse (New and Cochran 2007). It
may be further noted that the incidence of disability related to
seeing, hearing, speech and movement was higher as compared to
other disabilities (Table 2).
Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018 13
Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

Table 2
Population by Type of Disability
Type of Disability Population Proportion
Seeing 5,032,463 18.8
Hearing 5,071,007 18.9
Speech 1,998,535 7.5
Movement 5,436,604 20.3
Mental Retardation 1,505,624 5.6
Mental Illness 722,826 2.7
Multiple Disability 2,116,487 7.9
Any Other 4,927,011 18.4
Total 2,68,10,557 100
Though the percentage of literacy has increased in a decade
among PwD and population, the gap between literacy rate among
PwD and population is widening (Table 3). This is a concern that
calls for immediate attention by policy and practice. In spite of
getting global attention for education of CwD, the gap in literacy rate
between PwD and population was more in the 2011 census (Table 4).
Table 3
Literacy Rate among PwD vis-a-vis Population
Year PwD Population
2001 49% 64.83%
2011 54.52% 74.04%

Table 4
Distribution of CwD (5-19 years) with regard to Attending
Educational Institute
Residence Sex
Distribution
Rural Urban Male Female
Attending 60 65 62 60
Attended 12 11 12 12
Never Attended 28 24 26 28

The proportion of PwD who never attended any educational

institution in 2011 was found to be highest among persons with
‘multiple disability’ (54.4%), followed by ‘mental illness’ (50.3%)
and ‘mental retardation’ (41.2%). Whereas the category of ‘any
other disability’ (17.7%) shows the least percentage (Figure 1).

14 Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018

Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

Persons
Males
Females

t
en
ch
ng

bi le
n

r
g

ss l

he
m

y
ne ta
io

sa ip
in

ee

rd l
ri

ve

lit
ta ta
at

ill en

di ult
ea
ee

ot
Sp

o
re en
-S

-H

-M y

M
-

An
In
In

In
In

Figure 1. Disability wise Children not Enrolled in an Educational Institute (5-19 years)
(Source: Disabled Persons in India: A Statistical Profile 2016)

Participation of CwD in Education

Of the total population of PwD, nearly a quarter is in the school
going age group of 5-19 (Table 5). It is astonishing that only 7% are
enrolled in regular schools. There is a need to find out the status
of remaining CwD who are enrolled in special schools, vocational
institutes or in the work force. The increased number of students
at the secondary level as compared to elementary could be due to
the flow of children from elementary level during the year of data
capture. However, it is to be noted here that there is no coherence
among the sources of data (Census 2011 and UDISE 2015).
Table 5
Total Population and Enrolment Status of CWSN in India
CwD
CwD CwD CwD
enrolled
in age enrolled enrolled
(Eleme-
  Total ** PwD** group at Elem- at Seco-
ntary and
of 5-19 entary ndary
Secon-
years** Level*** Level***
dary)***
Population 1210854977 26810557 6572999 222787 237463 460250
Percentage - 2.21 24.52 3.38 3.61 6.99
Sources: **Census, 2011; http://www.censusindia.gov.in,
***UDISE, 2015.

Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018 15

Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

The NSSO, in its endeavour to provide information on the

magnitude and characteristics of the PwD, conducted the third
survey of PwD in the country during July 2002 to December 2002
(NSS 58th round). Some significant findings were: for every 100,000
people, 1755 were found to be having either mental or physical
disability; among the rural residents, the prevalence was 1.85 per
cent; among the urban, it was 1.50 per cent. The prevalence rate
in males was 2.12 per cent and 1.67 per cent while that for females
was 1.56 per cent and 1.31 per cent in rural and urban areas,
respectively. About 55 per cent of the PwD were illiterate and about
9 per cent completed education at secondary level and above.
Surprisingly only 11 per cent of PwD in the age group of 5–18 years
were enrolled in the special schools in the urban areas as compared
to even less than 1 per cent in the rural areas. Out of 1000 PwD,
only 15 to 35 completed vocational course and that too 74 to 80
per cent in non-engineering stream (NSSO, 2003). However, it is to
be noted that there are discrepancies in the various survey reports
with reference to prevalence of PwD. Given the stigma surrounding
disability, severe impairment, many women and rural population
being excluded from census and surveys (Jeffery and Singal, 2008)
in India and the concerns that there are no clear estimates of
number of PwD persists.
A retrospective study on the prevalence and socio-demographic
profile of children with developmental disability (CwDD) was
conducted in Odisha from secondary data source of open data from
government websites (Ambareen, 2016). The five categories, namely
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Cerebral Palsy (CP), Learning
Disability (LD), Intellectual Disability (ID) and Multiple Disability
(MD) under developmental disabilities Developmental Disability
(DD) among various socio demographic population, revealed
Other Backward Caste (OBC) under caste category and CP among
DD category having highest prevalence. The available statistics
revealed that from 2011–12 to 2015–16 there was decrease in the
incidence of DD. Prevalence of children exhibiting Attention Deficit
Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) in school population are reported in
separate studies depicting 6 per cent (Chadha, 2003); 4 per cent
(Gupta and Mishra, 2011); and 11 per cent (Venkata and Panicker,
2013) with boys outnumbering girls in varying ratios.
Disability prevalence and its association with socio-
demographic and socio-economic characteristics of Census
2011 data of disability was analysed by Saikia et al. (2016). The

16 Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018

Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

analysis reported disproportionate distribution of disability across

geographic regions and socio-economic groups. They recommended
changing the definition of disability to generate internationally
comparable estimates of disability prevalence.
In India there are serious concerns regarding the accuracy and
reliability of reporting the number of PwD (Singal, 2006). These
concerns are reflected in the report of the Office of the Registrar
General (2006) which notes that there are serious difficulties in
carrying out survey of PwD due to various reasons such as; lack
of well-trained field investigators, and the families’ inhibition to
disclose detailed information about members with disabilities
due to existence of social stigma. In India, systematic research
into prevalence and determinants of disability has been scanty
although it is an important public health problem as noted by
Kumar and Das (2009). They further observed that disability is
the best example of the iceberg phenomenon of disease because of
difficulty in identifying the mild and moderate degrees of disability,
which remains unrecognised by the healthcare delivery system and
the survey team members. To target preventive care, it is necessary
to take up epidemiological studies as it helps in identifying risk
factors and develop evidence-based practices.

Early Education of CwD

While there is no second opinion about the critical outcome of
beginning early intervention to reduce the impact of disability,
the practice seems to be elusive. Evaluation of Integrated Child
Development Services (ICDS) Scheme by the National Institute of
Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD, 2009) puts
on record the absence of awareness about disability among the
Anganawadi Workers (AWW) and total lack of intervention and
referral service. The scheme strongly recommends training of AWW
on skills required for early detection of disability/children at risk
and primary prevention.
Lack of facility for CwD in different types of pre-schools is
noticed by Kaul et.al. (2015). Behera and Gowramma (2016)
observed that CwDs though enrolled, are not attending Anganwadi
Centres (AWC) due to lack of awareness in the community
regarding the facilities and importance of early intervention.
Gobalakrishnan (2013) found officials and AWWs not aware
of government schemes which are introduced for the welfare of
the physically challenged except the financial assistance and

Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018 17

Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

provision of material benefit mainly due to isolation of CwD

from the mainstream. The National Early Childhood Care and
Education(ECCE) Policy of Government of India (2013) reiterates
for proactively addressing the discrimination and inequities based
on gender, social identity and disability toward fulfilment of right
to free and universal pre-primary education. When inclusion of
CwD is a national mission guided by international conventions,
the findings of the above studies point towards the urgent need to
strengthen ICDS system to fulfil this mandate. The unique early
childhood programme would be laudable if detection, referral
and intervention are woven skilfully into it. In this direction the
Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK, 2013) is an important
initiative of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government
of India aiming at early identification and early intervention for
children from birth to 18 years to cover 4 ‘D’s viz. defects at birth,
deficiencies, diseases and development delays including disability.
The scheme is aimed to cover children of 0-6 years of age in rural
areas and urban slums in addition to children enrolled in classes
1st to 12th in Government and Government aided Schools. Well-
conceived implementation strategies are specified as to reach the
target through existing structure and system.
Limited information available on Social Emotional and
Behavioural Difficulties (SEBD) is observed by D’Souza and Jament
(2015), while tracing the research studies in India through a wide
range of literature. They investigated the knowledge base in respect
of SEBD from the perspective of kindergarten teachers in a single
school. Based on interview with teachers, the useful strategies
are identified, some of them in tune with existing literature. They
suggest rigorous research to make the framework more robust and
adaptable. Findings of a study by Nair and Gowramma (2014)
also revealed that professionally qualified teachers displayed
better skills in interacting with Children with Hearing Impairment
(CwHI) in early intervention, though teachers with short term
training demonstrated awareness and positive attitude. Research
based professional programmes for preparing personnel for early
identification and intervention has to be designed to overcome the
lacuna in the early education of CwD.
There have been a series of studies incorporating interventions
in the early stages of development to establish the advantages
of early intervention. Gowramma et al. (2013) by identifying
difficulties in acquisition of reading skills among pre-schoolers with

18 Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018

Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

Hearing Impairment (HI) provided a systematic remedial reading

programme, bringing about improvement in the basic reading
skills. Suresh and Gowramma (2010) observed improvement
in social participation of the pre-school CwHI with one month
of planned intensive training on communication skills involving
parents and siblings as partners. Janwadkar (2015) established
the effectiveness of a school readiness programme among Children
with Autism Spectrum Disorder (CwASD) through an intervention
based on strengths and weaknesses obtained through a pre-test.
Keeping the natural characteristics of the disorder unaltered, the
pre-schoolers showed improvement in all the domains assessed.
Based on literature study, the role of early intervention as
“vaccination” in preventing LD is suggested by Mahakud (2010).
While exploring the daily activities of pre-school Children with
Developmental Disorders (CwDD), Venkatesan (2005) calls
attention of professionals to revamp the schedule, as it was
found that they spent time on sedentary activities. Parasuram
(2011), while lamenting on the crucial years lost when the study
identified the age of referral as 8–9 years, draws attention towards
neuropsychological studies directing towards intervention to begin
early to benefit by the neural plasticity.
Gowramma and Yathiraj (2016) compared the performance
of pre-schoolers with and without hearing impairment on early
mathematical skills. The results clearly indicated that children with
HI performed at par with their hearing counterparts in number
concept, but could not catch up with them in the fundamental
operations indicating that the difficulty is due to lag in the process
of development and not due to disability. Early identification of
children with intellectual disability (CwID) in the community and
providing early intervention and including them successfully
into schools is reported by Samadhan (2007). Mishra and Singh
(2013) conducted case study of inclusion of CwHI in pre-school
and identified factors for success as parental/peer support and
positive attitude of teachers. They also placed on record the reality
that most of the pre-schools were not easily approachable for CwHI
due to the strong belief grounded in deficit theory. Significant
improvement in the language of CwHI was observed through an
implementation of a structured curricular framework designed for
pre-school (Prema and Dehadrai, 2012). A satisfactory trend in
early identification and timely intervention ensuring commendable
influence on development of communication and academic skills

Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018 19

Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

as well as social integration in the educational mainstream was

revealed by Malar et.al. (2013) in a survey. Rakap and Balikci
(2016) noted high levels of independent performance during follow
up sessions after an intervention programme of teaching functional
skills to a child with autism.
Knowing the impact caused by disability to the person,
family and society we need substantial studies on intervention,
implementation in practical situation and identifying the challenges
at the institutional level. While designing developmentally
appropriate practices for this stage the diverse needs and context
of CwD needs to be taken care of. Further, research on ECE of
CwD especially from the socially disadvantaged section has to be
prioritised to strengthen every mechanism for early identification
and intervention, followed by inclusive environment in pre-school,
in a collaborative approach. When compared to other stages of
education, case studies on good practices and innovation on ECE
of CwD are scarce. Early Childhood Education (ECE) being a basis
to later educational progress, attending to the needs of CwD is
beneficial to the individual and society at large.

Varied Contexts for Education of CwD

Perspectives on education of CwD have been constantly modified
with increased awareness and understanding of special needs
arising out of disability. Significant advancement in practices is
placed on record by research and policy (Jangira, 2002). In fact,
the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), India’s flagship elementary
education programme, seeks to provide quality elementary
education to all, focusing especially on girls’ education and
children with special needs. More significantly, SSA categorically
brings the concerns of children with disabilities—or those termed
as ‘children with special needs’ (CWSN) under the framework of
‘inclusive education’ (IE) and argues for the adoption of a ‘zero
rejection policy’ so that no child is left out of the education
system (SSA, 2007). It noted that education of children with
disabilities should be promoted through a multi-option model of
educational delivery, which will not only increase access but also
provide these children with appropriate, need-based skills be they
vocational skills, functional literacy, or simply activities of daily
living in the most appropriate learning environment. Therefore,
alongside mainstreaming, SSA also promotes a combination of
home-based education (HBE) and alternate educational settings

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in order to address the educational needs of children with severe

intellectual/physical disabilities (SSA, 2007). However, there is a
concern for home based education of CwD. While exploring the
home based education under SSA, Julka (2010) identified the
missing links of such programmes to education system. Rajeshwari
(2013) observed encouraging enrolment rate and no dropout
of CwD in the state of Uttarakhand, while children with severe
disability not getting benefit from HBE. Sanjeev and Kumar (2007),
analysing the incidence and prevalence of disability in India, argue
to include CwD in all the schools, as it is morally justifiable and
does not violate human rights. Srivastava (2009) noted problems
in education of CwD as there have been changes over the years in
the education of this group.

Special Education
Most special schools are located in urban areas with around 2500
special schools registered with RCI and financially supported by
the Government (World Bank, 2007). Recently the National Centre
for Disability Studies (NCDS, 2016) compiled research in the field
of disability studies and allied field like disability rehabilitation and
special education. Mehrotra (2016) documents the programmes,
NGOs, movies and documentaries and bibliography catering to
the subject of disability in India including directory of special
educational services.
The results related to the effect of special schools have rather
been mixed. In a study of Rao and Panda (2005) locale of special
school was found to have no difference in the practice of special
education for children with ID, but certain other variables like
experience and general education background of teachers had
an impact on classroom practices of teachers in special schools.
A study of Academy for Severe Handicaps and Autism (ASHA, a
special school) by Vaishnav (2016) found that providing practical
skills, academic skills, therapy and pre-vocational services helped
to build confidence among children which was noticed in their
chain of special schools all over India. Though vocational training
was imparted in the special school, it failed to lead towards any
gainful employment (Randhawa, et al. 2008). Poor infrastructure,
apathy of parents and inadequacy of competencies were seen as
problems of teachers in special schools for children with ID (Reddy
and Poornima, 2008).

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A case study (Byrd, 2010) highlighting the exemplary work in

a special school for ID record quality academic instruction, job
readiness skills and support programmes for parents showing a
positive direction for special education by attending to the unique
needs of students. Case studies on two separate special schools
by (Mehrotra and Vaidya, 2008) for Children with Intellectual
Disability (CwID) and Autism found that special schools are opening
up spaces where individuals affected by these conditions are able
to avail educational service to gain autonomy and self reliance. The
limited coverage of mainly urban based impairment specific special
schools may result in the exclusion of CwDs who do not fit the
categories of their institutions or rural areas (Yadava, 2013). Rao
and Suryaprakasam (2004) assessed the impact of professional
team work in special schools run by Non-Government Organisations
(NGOs), interpreting the results against the background of
organisational effectiveness suggesting additional research at the
dynamics of the team work process for better understanding of
low involvement of support staff in team work. Thirumurthy and
Jayaraman (2007) while examining challenges for special education
in India including the issues surrounding appropriate assessment
in a multilingual country, finds social stigma of disability as well
as issues of identification and teachers’ lack of preparation posing
problems. Vakil et. al. (2002) give an overview of special education
legislation in India and the study focuses on success of one school
in meeting the needs of students with moderate to profound ID
through an integrated approach. They integrated a vocational
component by creating two cooperative business enterprises with
donations and parents’ involvement and found it to be beneficial.
Integrated Education
Evaluating the programme of integrated education with respect to
Children with Visual Impairment (CwVI), Punani (2002) found that
integrated education has not delivered the desired results, such as
enhancing coverage, promoting social integration, and qualitative
progress. An investigation (Elton-Chalcraft et al., 2016) into the
perceptions of effective provisions for CwD revealed that integration
is not a preferred model whereas separate schools were found to be
the most appropriate model for reasons of pedagogy and curriculum,
lack of individualized attention for children and difficulties of social
integration. The less trodden area of educational dissatisfaction
expressed in a tacit, non-disruptive manner could be sometimes

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the result of integration of CwD (Yan and Jament, 2008). Their

study observed that inappropriate curriculum, cultural factors,
and poor motivation due to lack of opportunity were barriers to
the process of schooling for CwD. Owing to the fact that CwD are
vulnerable for marginalization, there is a danger of suppression of
their voices in the integrated setting.
Improvement of children with HI and Visual Impairment (VI)
to the extent of becoming independent after the residential bridge
course under Integrated Education of the Disabled (IED) was a
pleasant surprise to teachers and community members in believing
that CwDs are able to learn in an integrated set up (Rastogi and
Batra, 2008). Higher levels of aspirations were recorded (Sharma,
2007) by SwVI in integrated set up when compared with those
in excluded set up. Study by Agarwal (2004) revealed that semi-
integrated setting was most effective in imparting academic skills
and the visually impaired students in this particular setting were
more efficient both in special academic skills like Braille reading
as well as general academic skills. Sharma and Deppeler (2005)
identified poverty and difficulty in modifying deeply held attitudes,
dissemination of quality public education, providing adequate
levels of training to key stake holders and inadequate resources
as challenges to implement integrated education for CwDs. While
suggesting strategies to address the challenges, they highlight
the need to design innovative system of training for teachers,
collaboration between different ministries and involvement of
NGOs in implementation.
Examining the principle of normalization from the viewpoint
of equality in educational opportunities for PwD in Indian context,
Kumar (2013) found the principle has had a profound positive
effect on the lives of people who were removed and segregated from
the society due to their disabilities, which gave them a greater
freedom and opportunities to satisfying personal needs. This clearly
indicates the role of each of the evolutionary stage of education for
CwD, progressing from segregation to inclusion where integration
is a necessary step.

Inclusive Education (IE)

Momentum for IE has been gained from the socio-economically
advantaged areas of the United States of America and Western
Europe (Rose, 2016). A series containing review and analysis on
the concept, terminology and implementation of IE were brought

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out by Singal (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008). A review of international

declarations, national legislations and a range of social, political
and cultural factors revealed that the concept of inclusive education
gained popularity in the new millennium. At the same time, review
of literature in the Indian context revealed that the field of IE is still
driven by a rather narrow and limiting perspective and conceptual
differences getting weakened by methodological challenges.
Moreover, the term IE is used with reference to education of CwD
in India. It is therefore argued that IE must be regarded as an
approach encompassing the broader education system. The key
persons involved in IE need to challenge the existing values, beliefs
and attitudes to ensure the full participation of all children in the
curriculum and culture of school setting. Johansson (2014) in
an analysis finds consensus on ‘goodness’ of inclusive education
and being synonymous with CwD, with variation and discrepancy
within policies and schools. Visible change in school is observed
to be emerging but with varying consciousness of responsibility
towards CwD. In a similar line, Rose (2016) has cautioned that
conditions in India differ greatly from those countries. Julka
(2002), while observing that the knowledge and skills related to
inclusive education is missing, calls for a clearer understanding
of the practices, their application, and the influences upon such
a practice. It is imperative to draw attention of policy makers for
rigorous policy intervention, while maintaining the importance to
recognise and respect the many initiatives and innovations that
already exist within Indian classrooms.
Limaye (2016) explored the broader challenge in the current
education system with respect to issues of quality of education
and dropout rates of primary school SwD. A number of factors
that influence the accessibility of education for CwD are presented
including perception of parents and their difficulties in helping
them, the general attitude of society, government officials,
school staff and infrastructure, inadequate levels of training of
key stakeholders, invisibility of disability in community and so
on. Similar concerns were raised by Shukla and Singh (2011).
Though special educators, parents and peers have positive attitude
towards inclusion of CwID (Pushpalatha and Pushpavalli, 2011),
non availability of appropriate schooling, behavior problems of
their children (Mohapatra and Balabaskar, 2005) encourage
parents to make them stay away from inclusive schools. Moderate
level of awareness of legislation among family members of CwD

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(Kuppuswamy, et al., 2012), could also be a reason for CwD staying

away from inclusive schools.
Though the concept of inclusive education has been accepted
in principle, the empirical evidence that can help to promote
inclusive education is still insufficient. Islam (2017) reported
that though stakeholders agreed to the philosophy of IE but in
practice teachers hold different moral positions with reference to
type of disability. Revathi and Noami’s (2016) findings concerning
benefits of collaborative learning of CwD show a positive direction.
For establishing the validity and sustainability of such a
collaborative learning of children with all types of disability in an
inclusive set up and ascertaining its utility to all children in the
learning process, more studies are needed. According to Bharti
(2014, 2016 a), school and teacher education institutions are not
ready to meet the demands of inclusion and an effort for change
is required in developing a concrete plan and implementing in
a school specific inclusive education, particularly for teacher
professional development for sustainability of the practice in
school. Negative attitude toward disability are prevalent in many
parts of India (David and Kuyini, 2012). Providing education to
CwD was within the purview of family and community rather than
in public sector and thus has been inclusive by its nature while
suggesting need for cross cultural perspective regarding inclusion
(Browning et al, 2011).
Madan and Sharma (2013) presents guidelines derived from
empirical study which entailed examining prevalent practices and
introducing inclusion in a regular school setting. It suggested
that schools can implement IE programme if they are adequately
prepared, are able to garner support of all stake holders involved
in the process and have basic resources to run the programme.
Success of a progressive child-centered approach to inclusive
education is documented through analyzing the practice (Ram,
2002). Individualized education, parent support, opportunity
of alternate curriculum, utilization of exam concessions, and
professional guidance are seen to be engrained into the practice very
meticulously to reach the goal. In order to respect the difference,
Malhotra (2002), through a successful case study of inclusion,
identified and suggested similar strategies that bring children
together. Evaluation studies of inclusive education by Chadha,
et al. (2005) in Jharkhand found average performance of CwD,
majority of the teachers expecting extra support, short duration

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of training programme and material development not being a part

of such programmes. It is also revealed that teachers got on-site
academic support from Block Resource Centers (BRCs) and Cluster
Resource Centers (CRCs). Similar study by Venkatesh (2006) in
Karnataka found all infrastructural facilities and different in-service
programmes going on as per mandate to support inclusive education of
CwD. Thomas and Whitten (2012) compared the education policies
and accessibility of learners with disability in India and Australia.
The findings show that in Indian schools, segregation was the norm
with minimal learning support and charity based funding. In the
Australian schools, inclusion was the norm with high demand for
service and efforts at accommodation was constrained by funding
criteria. In both the contexts, definition of need and the quality of
teaching were significant issues. Sunish and Shankaranarayana
(2011) found SwD, in particular ID, enrolled more in inclusive
setting when compared to enrolment in special schools in the
sample districts surveyed in Tamil Nadu. For pupils with identified
disabilities, regular school placement is cent per cent (SSA, 2007).
But learners whose learning needs are not identified such as those
with ASD, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), LD may
be quietly dissatisfied due to their inability to fully participate in
the class (Yan and Jament, 2008).
Inclusive education has to be facilitated not just as a programme
but as an ideology based on human rights approach giving
importance to individual, respecting the potentiality in the teaching
learning process (Yadava, 2013). In order to have a thorough
understanding of the challenges, practices and promote quality
research in the area, it is imperative that an in-depth analysis
into the education of the children with disabilities be prioritized
which will give a lucid picture of the prevalence of disability in
India and their participation in education. It is also imperative to
consider the contribution of research to the field of education of
children with disabilities. Dutta and Banerjee (2013) studied the
problems of IE and presented the advantages and disadvantages
as perceived by the students. Gangmei and Gowramma, (2016)
studied participation of CwHI in primary schools and reported that
early intervention, family and school factors play significant roles
in the academic and social inclusion. Based on qualitative analysis
of experiences of CwD included in schools, Das and Kattumuri
(2011) elucidated the benefits and challenges of IE, suggesting
recommendations for improvement in implementation.

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Sanjeev and Kumar (2007) reflected on the obstacles in

implementation of IE, focusing on the role of special school,
teachers, parents and administrators. Naraian (2013) offers
guidelines for implementation of IE by renewing the understanding
of IE within the field of study of education. Exploring the process
of IE, Das et al. (2013) identified barriers and facilitators and came
out with a contextual working model. Evidence from Singal (2006)
and Jha (2002) suggest that an awareness of a concept of inclusive
education is no guarantee for ensuring that the desired teaching
learning practices are in place. Changes in classroom require
simultaneous development of reforms in professional development,
curriculum alongside a change in attitude and beliefs as reflected
in the culture of the school. Rose (2016) reiterated commendation
of established records of children having entitlement to attend
school. It also suggested provision for adequate initial teacher
education that address elements of special and inclusive education
and development of supportive resources as essential factors on
the road to inclusion in the Indian context. It is cautioned that the
negative impact of implementing western approaches would fail
to address contextual factors (Rose et al., 2014). Until a common
language is shared by policy makers, teachers and parents,
it is critical for the achievement of a consistent development of
procedures and practices to support special educational needs of
children in inclusive setting (Unnikrishnan, 2010).
As noted by Advani (2002) the importance of individual
differences has to be at the forefront for differentiating curriculum
for education to be a fundamental right. It is also felt that there is
limited empirical evidence supporting inclusive education due to
unavailability of genuine inclusive schools. Inclusive education is
not just a programme, but it is an ideology based on the principle of
human rights approach wherein stress is laid on giving importance
to the individual and respecting the potentiality of the student in
the education process. It is high time the system moves towards
inclusive education in its true spirit by supporting education of
CwD in all the schools synchronised with empirical researchers.

Assessment of Disability
Assessment is a critical practice engaged for the purpose of
matching instruction to the level of students’ skills, monitoring
student progress, modifying instruction and a commitment to
enhance student competence. Educational assessment of CwD

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can be challenging and, if not administered correctly, can provide

misrepresented picture of the child’s actual abilities. Hence
assessment of disability for certification, educational decisions
and research pose a huge challenge. As noted by Nizamie et al.
(2005), disability assessment is essential not only to ensure better
management of the person as a whole, but also for accurately
deciding the quantum of social support required for the individual
for better integration in the society. Sharma and Venkateshwarlu
(2009), while reporting growing awareness of children with
language disability, recommend that the primary task of a teacher
is to successfully carry out an assessment of language problem
of the children. However, it is documented that the insufficiency
of trained persons in the field of special education in India makes
assessment a frustrating procedure for parents (Birla, 2001;
Banerjee, 2003; Shrinivasan, 2004; Times India Network, 2005,
cited in Indira 2016).
Singh (2010) argued that intelligence (as measured through IQ)
reflects the cognitive functions but does not express the extent of
disability of an individual, especially for the purpose of certification.
To certify disability, assessment of intellectual functioning and
functional deficiency that determines disability with supportive
evidences is required. These could be the standardised test results,
doctors’ prescription or observations. Expressing the genuine
apprehension of possibilities of functional assessment curtailing
the options of treatment, Goswami et al. (2015) argue for including
medical conditions imposing a permanent disability.
As part of Obama-Singh project, Vijayan and Naomi, (2016)
coordinated a research project in India on Response to Intervention
(RtI). RtI is an approach of identifying students at risk for failure on
a Curriculum Based Assessment (CBA) and are given individualised
intervention before taking decision on special/additional service
before grade level deterioration begins which is preventive in
nature. The intervention given based on the assessment is found
to be beneficial for children in the Indian context.
To help gather supportive evidence, a tool titled Assessment of
Disability in Persons with Mental Retardation (ADPMR) is developed
by Indian practitioners. This tool can be administered with limited
training, and was field tested by Nizamie et al. (2005) and found to
be reliable and valid for testing intellectual disability. Based on the
experience with ADPMR the research team postulated that disability
as a construct is different from Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and

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Social Quotient (SQ).Utility of the ‘Screening Checklist for Auditory

Processing (SCAP)’ in detecting (central) Auditory Processing
Disorder (C) APD in children, which is one of the early signals of
LD, was developed (Yathiraj and Mascarenhas, 2003, 2004) and
field tested (Muthuselvi and Yathiraj, 2010) that could be used
effectively by teachers to identify the disorder and intervene early.
The Checklist to Screen Children with Reading Difficulty (CSRD)
has been proved to be an effective quick screener for children
with reading difficulty (Joshi and Vanaja, 2016). Assessment tool
of pre-arithmetic skills was developed (Yathiraj et al. 2013) and
found to be identifying the strength and weakness of children with
HI so that intervention could be provided before formal schooling
(Yathiraj and Gowramma 2017).
One of the comprehensive studies (Chakravarthi, 2012) in
assessing receptive and expressive language skills in Kannada
of CwLD showed no significant deficits in phonological and
semantic skills; however, individual deficits and deficits within
sub-component skills of semantics were noted. Mean and individual
deficits in auditory reception, aural comprehension and receptive
vocabulary were noted and those in syntax and verbal expression
were notably significant. The study observed that the extent of
language delay increases with age and plateaus at higher ages.
Considering the number of languages in India and the absence of
an accepted criterion for identification or diagnosis, it is of utmost
importance to understand the prevalence of language impairments
and the nature of such impairments in an Indian language.
Studies to develop standardized testing protocol for identification
(Binaykant and Shyamala, 2004), classification (Geetha and
Prema, 2007), are noteworthy in the understanding of the language
specific features of language impairments. Given its implications
for future research in demystifying language impairments, further
research in understanding of other languages in India is called for.
These tools need standardisation with larger population in varied
context and translation in different languages.
Bharti (2016 b) analysed the report card format of pre-primary
schools to study the existing diversity and identify the need
for evolving a reporting format which facilitates planning and
implementation of inclusive pedagogy and provides comprehensive
and true profile of child to parents along with suggestion for
parental collaboration. Error analysis as an assessment strategy
for analysing the difficulty among Children with Learning Disability

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(CwLD) (Gowramma, 2005; Jagathy, 2004; Raghavan, 2004;

Chakravarthy, 2000) and among CwHI (Gowramma 2015; Nair,
2016) was used effectively. Many of the above studies developed
and implemented intervention taking the lead from the error
analysis. According to Gupta and Singal (2009), appropriate early
intervention, phonological instruction and continuous and intensive
support to deal with other co-occurring disorders like Central
Auditory Processing Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder are essential to address the issue and assess the children
in efficient learning. The longer the CwD in basic reading skill go
unidentified and without intervention, the more difficult is the
task of remediation, lesser the rate of success and more severe
the accompanied social and behavioural deficit in those children.
The co-occurring disorders hamper the healthy learning and
growth, suggesting early assessment and intervention. Calling
attention to similar phenomenon of variability within children
with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), with individual pattern of
skill development, assessment and Individualised Education Plan
(IEP) has been recommended. An intervention module comprising
of a checklist to assess and enhance speech and language skills
and activities was developed by Swapna et al. (2015), found to be
reliable in identifying the baseline level and effective in developing
speech language skills among CwHI and CwID. Mamgain (2016)
correlates the scores on three different tests Vineland Social
Maturity Scale, Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale and Bhatia’s
Battery, and found Vineland Social Maturity Scale and Stanford
Binet Intelligence Scale having a high correlation suggesting its
utility in initial assessment of the child. Rani (2016) explored the
work done in the field of intelligence test construction especially
for Persons with Visual Impairment (PwVI) in India as it has been
a point of discussion whether the test of intelligence developed
for sighted can be utilised/adapted or not to be used with PwVI,
calling for an urgent need to focus the research in the area of
construction of psychometric tests especially in Braille. The use of
psychometric tests for CwD though is contentious but found to be
useful provided they are adapted to the specific needs of children.

Psycho-Social Dimensions of CwD

Research establishes the significance of psycho-social aspects
contributing to development and education of CwD. Rana (2016)
reported that self concept and adjustment are two important

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psychological aspects influencing the personalities of individual

especially of CWSN, and high scores in self concept tend to
accompany with high level of adjustment and vice versa. Some
studies (Laskar et al., 2005; Kodali and Charyulu, 2011) found
that psychosocial behavioural changes among the children with
disabilities were statistically significant, which indicates a need
for screening and identification for organizing counselling to CwD
and parents, community based rehabilitation programme and their
integration into the main stream education to reduce the psychosocial
behavioural changes. Kumar et al. (2012) observed that PwD in
the community face many social problems and suggested for a
multi-sectoral approach including social integration interventions,
health, education and vocational programs as rehabilitation
services. Barriga et al. (2017) discussed the placement of children
with disabilities in institutions and the subsequent abuses they
often experience, drawing from Human Rights Watch research from
2013 to 2016. They noted that institutionalisation of babies harms
their early brain development, can result in developmental delays
and permanent disability and may have long-lasting effects on
their social and emotional behaviour. It is important to know the
belief system supported by the majority culture and broad social
futures that impinge on the setting within which the individual
with disabilities functions (Kalabula, 2006).
People with physical disability tend to have low level of self
esteem and high level of depression, inferiority, fear of social
ridicule, lack of self confidence and limited social participation,
stress and anxiety in comparison to those without disability
(Mushtaq and Akhouri, 2016; Bano, 2015). This suggests the need
for a change in the attitude of the society towards disability, as
well as the need for people with physical disability to change their
own attitude towards themselves. Dalal (2006) reported that people
with physical disability frequently suffer more due to societal
prejudices than due to the physical conditions in which they live. A
cross-sectional study (Lascar et al., 2010) to assess the social and
financial burden on parents of Children with Physical Disability
(CwPD) emphasised an urgent need for support activities for such
families at national level to curb the huge economic and social
burden of care-giving and suggested for making counselling to be
an integral part of rehabilitation for such families.
Research (Ahuja, 2000; Sharma, 2009) reports that CwD
manifest social skill deficits. Moreover, the most important

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psychological characteristic found to be associated with learning

disability is self concept. Given the fact that CwLD has personal
deficiencies and history of failure in the mastery of academic
skills, they normally experience lower self concept and low self
esteem and other psychological deficiencies. Children with LD
and ADHD (Aleem and Rastogi, 2007) had significantly poor
adjustment than other children in all areas assessed including
educational, emotional and social adjustment. In addition, a
CwLD appears to exhibit emotional problems due to adjustment
difficulties resulting from academic failure (Neeraja and Anuradha,
2014). The older CwLD showed a more maladaptive behavioural
disposition and hyperactivity and aggression (Sridevi et al., 2015)
than the younger ones, and there was a significant gender effect
among CwLD (Sharma, 2004). These problems also affect their
psychological growth and pattern of adjustments. Early diagnosis
and intervention in CwLD makes a substantial improvement in
self-confidence and social competency, which helps them in
opening windows of opportunity in school and in the world of work
(Sahoo et al., 2015).
Children with ASD have unique characteristics such as
impairments in communication and social interaction and the
impact of these characteristics constitutes a challenge to other
children in the family (Thomas et al., 2016). Hussain et al. (2010)
reported that behavioural problem among Children with Autism
(CwA) were significantly higher than those with ID, while on social
maturity front CwID were significantly better than CwA. The CwA
and their family need positive support and need to know that
they are respected as individuals and as human beings (Gupta
and Singal, 2005). Vaidya (2008), explored the manner in which
families negotiated with autism, the neuro-developmental disorder
that afflicted their children and suggests that acceptance of the
child’s disability and conceptualizing them as complete persons
are the key to successful coping, rather than class factors. As noted
by Behera (2015), many people with autism are despised, abused,
debarred of their basic human rights and are made literally invisible
in the realm of modern society, living and lifestyle and they deserve
to be accepted, loved and respected.
Kodali et al. (2016) noted that measuring and management of
CwHI is still in the initial stages in developing countries such as
India and called for measuring HI in terms of social and emotional
functioning in a more holistic approach in resource-poor settings,

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and for initial screening in large-scale studies. Sreeja (2010) also

enquired about the influence of psychosocial adjustment on the
academic achievement of SwHI and found that psychosocial domain
has an influence in adjustment on the vocational aspirations and
academic achievement at higher secondary level.
Halder and Datta (2012) found that sighted adolescents
displayed high self concept as compared to their visually impaired
counterparts. Another study (Satapathy, 2000) reported that
CwVI with significantly less stress had positive self-esteem, fewer
behaviour problems and more study-oriented behaviours than
their HI counterparts. She attributed this to the residential stay
of visually impaired students. Providing services to children with
disabilities has been within the context of family and community
rather than in the public sector and thus has been inclusive by
its very nature and there is a need for adopting a cross-cultural
perspective regarding inclusion (Browning et al., 2011). Inclusive
school set up and its ambience exerts a positive impact on the
self-concept (Rani, 2011), emotional stability (Pant and Joshi,
2016) and social behaviour of sensory and CwVI (Lakshmi, 2016)
and that students placed in inclusive schools are emotionally
more intelligent than their counterparts in exclusive schools. On
the other hand, parents of children without disability reflected a
positive attitude towards inclusion, but suggested separate classes
for academics; while experts also mentioned that education was
one of the basic needs for the child with special needs to become
independent. Both groups believed that inclusion was beneficial to
the children and to the society (Bhargava and Narumanchi, 2011).
Although all individuals with ID can experience stress due to
societal stereotypes and attitudes, individuals with mild ID may
confront specific stresses because they may appear normal to others
and consequently limitations may not be recognised as a disability.
Lack of acceptance and devaluation can result in low self-esteem
and isolation, which in turn can lead to deviant behaviours or acting
out. In more severe cases, a psychiatric disorder may be developed
as a means of coping (Srivastava and Kumar, 2015). As per the
study of Ganesh et al. (2012), ID especially at an early stage is
amenable to intervention measures and psychosocial intervention
brings about a decrease in the disability and increase in the quality
of life of adolescents with ID. Dwivedi (2002) found that children
without disability and Cw LD, VI, HH differed significantly on their
mental health. The phenomenon of ill mental health was found to

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be associated more with the students with disability belonging to

lower SES category.
A study by Umadevi and Sukumaran (2012) revealed that, as
the level of disability increases, the level of functional social skills
decreases and the number of years of schooling is an insignificant
factor in the development of functional social skills among CwID.
This may be a reflection on the education practice and quality.
Influence of social aspect is crucial because with increasing
severity of intellectual disability, social development also decreases
irrespective of age (Singh, 2011). Cultural and religious beliefs
perpetuated negative attitudes towards disability which indicated
that caregivers bore a high burden of care with little support from
family or society. The study by Edwardraj et al. (2010)confirmed the
presence of diverse, multiple and contradictory models of disability
drawing from biomedical and local religious, social and cultural
constructs suggesting for community level interventions for reducing
the misconceptions and stigma related to intellectual disability in
addition to culturally sensitive treatment methods to improve the
attitude towards and management of intellectual disability.
According to Somashekhar et al. (2014), a wide range of
psychosocial problems, i.e. social, psychological and health
problems, are experienced by the parents of children with cerebral
palsy. While planning a family-centred programme for such
children, these problems should be considered and addressed
in order to make care of the child more effective. In the study
by Thomas et al. (2014) it was found that parents of Children
with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (CwDMD) had inadequate
understanding of the disease but showed a positive attitude, had
a moderate family burden, and relied more on religion, focused
on venting of emotions, and instrumental and emotional social
support for coping. Caregivers of CwDMD would benefit from
psychosocial intervention to address their understanding of and
attitude toward the disease, as well as burden of dealing with it, and
to help them develop their coping skills and meet their children’s
and their own needs. Gupta and Singal (2004) suggested on the
process of coping that generates positive perceptions of parents
with disabilities and the ways that these positive perceptions are
used as an effective coping strategy such as formation of self-
advocacy groups, social participation to reduce negative ideas
associated with anxiety, insecurity, depression as also education,
counselling and vocational training to develop the capabilities of

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the individuals. Parents with positive perceptions can help the

other parents, in the early stages of adjustment, develop positive
but realistic expectations.
Children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties
(SEBD) had poor self-esteem and social skills and their confidence
levels were low. Further, teachers were not well trained to recognize
special educational needs in general, and SEBD in particular
(D’Souza and Jament, 2015). Teachers had greater predictive
power on the social status of students with disabilities in regular
classrooms (David and Kuyini, 2012). Adopting a retrospective
approach, Choudhuri et al. (2011) found that psychosocial
rehabilitation interventions aim to help persons with psychiatric
disability learn or relearn skills that would improve their long-term
capabilities so that they can reintegrate into the society. Special
education teachers of CwD need to be — (a) self aware of abilities
and skills required for the range of the roles, responsibilities and
demands of their work; (b) manage emotional reactions to specific
situations and people; (c) accurately pick up on emotions in other
people and react to others’ emotions and be understanding others
needs; and (d) socially skilled enough to use awareness of one’s
own emotions and the emotions of others to manage interactions
successfully (Poornima, 2011). To deal with ID, areas such as
self-care, work habit, time management, money management,
interpersonal relationship, household activities and attending
social functioning there is a need for separate therapeutic
interventions along with psychopharmacology and psychosocial
rehabilitation (Ponnuchamy, 2016).
Research findings indicate the vulnerability of PwD to
discrimination and abuse probably due to their low self-esteem
and poor social skills. The benefit from psychosocial intervention
to address their social needs suitable to the context can be
considered for future research. Longitudinal studies and in-depth
case studies are a dearth observed that can be taken up in the
area of psychosocial attributes of all disabilities. The focus could
be on identifying factors contributing to develop coping skills and
functional skills through intervention that would empower them
lead a life with dignity.

Academic Performance of CwD

This section presents studies on academic performance which
includes learning needs of CwD, curricular practices adapted

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in schools and interventional studies to enhance academic

achievement. Hadler (2007) stated that there is significant relation
between academic achievement and intelligence of children with
orthopaedic impairment, maternal education being a significant
correlate for girls with orthopaedic impairment. Khan (2006)
observed that educational aspirations, vocational preferences
and academic success are positively and significantly correlated
with each other. CwVI with high economic status were found to
have maximum magnitude of aspirations. No correlation between
adjustment and academic achievement was noticed among CwVI
by Rajkonwar et al. (2013). Their study also revealed that boys
and girls do not differ significantly in academic achievement.
According to Sotha (2010) there exists a significant and positive
relation of self-efficacy and academic achievement of children with
orthopaedic impairment compared to their peers.
Gupta and Krishna (2002) through four case studies of
children between 8-16 years with autism explored their ability. The
strengths and weaknesses of the children are described along with
strategies for enabling them to reach their full potential. Anuradha
(2005) reported the incidence of LD in English significantly more
in government school than in private school. The study revealed
the effectiveness of the remediation in improving the reading
accuracy of the Students with Learning Disability (SwLD). Joseph
(2003) formulated a grammatical assessment tool and compared
the performance of Students with Hearing Impairment (SwHI) with
certain variables like the use of a hearing aid, type of management
of the school, size of the class and residential vs. non-residential
set-up. The results showed that regular use of a hearing aid,
private schools (both aided and unaided), size of the class (up to
ten students) and a non-residential set-up had a positive impact on
the performance of students.
Ray (2011) in a study on curriculum preference, level of
aspiration and academic achievement of children with and
without disabilities reported that the much demanded subjects
were computer, mathematics and English while cricket was most
popular among sports. The CwVI preferred academic subjects while
the CwHI showed a greater tendency towards professional subjects.
Students preferred assessment to be based on both the academic
and non-academic subjects instead of only annual examinations
or academic performance. Sarkar (2015), in a study on science
comprehension among CwVI in relation to their cognitive abilities

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and learning styles, revealed that most of them were identified

as having average comprehension and average cognitive abilities.
Agarwal (2002) reported that Students with Visual Impairment
(SwVI) going to mainstream schools both in integrated as well as
semi- integrated setting were good at problem solving and reasoning
skills due to greater exposure to the subjects like mathematics and
science. The investigator concluded that CwVI should be admitted
to mainstream schools in large numbers. Integrated setting
should be promoted and strengthened. Special schools should be
utilized to provide resource services as a supplement to integrated
setting. Gowramma (2015) found no significant difference in
arithmetic performance of primary school children with and
without HI. However, the specific difficulties and errors observed
were attributed to domain general phenomenon involving working
memory and attention than core deficit in processing quantity and
number sense. Ahmad (2015) noted that children having disability
in reading accompanied with ADD are found to be having reading
deficit that are more severe and more resistant to intervention.
Arun et al. (2011) in a report on prevalence of Specific
Developmental Disorder of Scholastic Skill (SDDSS) in school
students in Chandigarh found a prevalence of 1.58 per cent
in the age range of 12 to 18 years. Specific learning disability
was not identified even till later age which is a concern for their
academic progress.
Multisensory approach is a frequently used intervention
method for students with reading disabilities which employs two
or more sensory modalities simultaneously (visual, auditory,
tactile and kinaesthetic) and provides multiple pathways for
helping students to learn alphabetic patterns and words more
effectively than any other approach (Kamala, 2014). Classroom
practices play an important role in enhancing learning outcomes.
Studies report the significant impact of different approaches like
remediation (Rai, 2005), collaborative learning (Revati, 2016) and
multisensory approach, peer training and cooperative learning
methods (Gupta and Sindhu, 2008) in improving reading among
students with reading disabilities. Sharmistha (2000) explored the
impact of residual hearing on concept learning among the CwHI
from the primary schools and reported significant improvement.
While the study revealed no significant effect of gender, family
size and birth order of children, intelligence, language and total
academic achievement were found positively related to concept

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learning. All the stakeholders, including children, opined that the

curricula followed were not relevant. The excessive textual burden
and the bulk of exercises in most of the subjects were also found to
be irrelevant. According to Revati (2016), collaborative cooperative
learning enhances learning of both children with and without
disabilities in inclusive schools. Naomi (2014 b) studied the effect
of multimodal intervention for developing orientation and mobility
skills in young children with CwVI and reported that it helped them
to acquire orientation and mobility skills.
Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) for remediation of
arithmetic learning disability had an edge over programme
instruction method (Shankar and Kumar, 2011). Children who
underwent remedial teaching showed significant improvement in
pre-operational and operational domains of mathematical skills
(Karibasappa et al., 2008). Impact of intervention like multimedia
and other academic classroom interventions have been reported
among CwLD on development of their thought processes (Jhaveri
et al., 2012), intellectual capacity (Santhanam, 2005), academic
achievement (Anshu and Singh, 2013) and improvement in dyslexia
(Indira, 2017). Children with Specific Learning Disability (SLD) who
availed the special provisions showed a significant improvement in
their academic performance at the Secondary School Certificate
(SSC) board examination (Karande and Kulkarni, 2005). Sharma et
al. (2011) reported that CAI teaching strategy enhances the ability
and achievement level of children with mild ID.
Gupta and Sindhu (2008) stated that effective use of
multisensory approach, peer training and cooperative learning in
classroom setting enhanced academic skills among CwID as well
as facilitated the use of instructional time and efficient student
management. Singh (2012) noted the positive impacts of yogasanas
on memory span of CwID in the age group of 8-15 years. It was also
observed that memory span in case of edible object was maximum.
Jeeva (2017) reported that the remedial programmes promoted in
acquiring the ability of functional vision such as visual fixation,
tracking, discrimination and motor co-ordination among children
with strabismus (a condition leading to visual impairment). Revati
(2017) in a study on effect of training package on developing visual
skills of children with low vision reported the significant impact of
visual efficiency training with the help of devices and materials on
visual skills among all types of vision loss children. The children
with blurred vision showed better performance in all visual skills

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followed by central vision loss then peripheral vision loss. The

study revealed no influence of gender, age group and grade level on
the visual skills of children with low vision.
Findings of different studies show enhanced academic
performance if resources are adequately provided signifying the
importance of robust educational policy and procedure for students
with disabilities. Studies on impact of remedial programmes and
benefits of different approaches have been conducted on specific
disabilities restricted to specific educational set up. This calls for
conducting larger studies in the context of children with different
disabilities in different educational settings.

Role of Family and Community

Family and community play a significant role in the welfare of
CwD. Families affect and get affected by the presence of a member
with disability at the home. Singh et al. (2002) pointed out the
many stressors of families having CwD including apprehension
about the child’s future, burden of caring, anxiety and irritability
arise due to extra work. Tremendous stress on families of CwASD
due to negative experience of discrimination was noticed by
Divan et al. (2012). The study by Ranta et al. (2015) pertaining
to parenting stress revealed significant difference between stress
of parents of CwD than their counterparts. The study highlighted
the need for counselling and sensitisation in the area of nutrition,
vocation and child management. Significantly fewer problems were
reported by parents seeking professional help suggesting a need
for counselling service especially for mothers as they were found
to have more stress especially in the areas related to emotions
(Singh, et al., 2002). John (2012) found clinically significant stress
scores and maternal coping as a robust predictor of stress for
mothers of boys with ID. Qualitative analysis indicated positive
and negative maternal experiences related to self, child, family
and community. Gupta et al. (2012) observed higher stress among
parents of girls with disability and those engaged in lucrative
and prestigious jobs wherein religion was seen to be a common
coping resource. Gender connotation in parental perception is
recorded: Fathers being hostile towards boys with specific learning
disability (Chandramuki et al., 2012) probably due to academic
expectation which is assumed to have a close connection with the
future success of the child. Also, mothers require more support
as Dutta and Sanyal (2016) observed a significant relationship

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between family pathology and trait anxiety among mothers scoring

high on anxiety as compared to fathers of children with ADHD.
Parents having CwID show psychosocial impacts such as stress
and concern for career of the children, the intensity of which varies
with the types and severity of disability (Upadhaya and Singh,
2009; Gohel et al., 2011). The researchers suggested that family
intervention programmes should be offered early and strengthen
the natural support system. Parents of children with moderate level
of deficiency registered more problems in all aspects compared with
parents having mild deficiency. No significant difference in the level
of stress and control over stress was noticed between both parents
of CwHI (Gowramma, 2013) and higher level of stress correlated
with delayed identification coupled with lack of professional help.
Parental concern was found to be more focused towards making
their children speak and fulfilling vocational requirement rather
than setting the right educational goal and giving age related skills.
This is a serious threat to the individual growth as the child is
always underestimated for the capacity to learn school curriculum
with least focus on age appropriate skill development. Venkatesan
(2007) made an attempt to discover the nature, frequency and
duration of professional consultations sought by parents of children
with DD. Results show that parents’ long drawn out itinerary of
shopping for professional help was influenced by variables like
severity, sex, age, diagnostic condition of the child as well as allied
socio demographic variables.
Studies with parents of CwID (Singh et al., 2009) showed that
majority of parents, who have identified the condition of their child
before the age of two years encourage them to participate in social
gathering. Parents expressed their desire to have special education
and vocational training for their children with an intention of making
their children leading an independent life. This proactive parental
behaviour favouring CwD seems to be due to the facility they had
for early identification supported by professional guidance. While
collecting parental perspectives on LD, Parasuram (2011) noted
that children first referred for professional help at the age of 8–10
years lose crucial early years for intervention. An attempt was made
to analyse the communication patterns between non-speaking
children with CP and their mothers. It was found that mothers’
communication strategies were dominated by instructions followed
by request for information, provision of information was followed
by request for attention. Instruction for speech, confirmation denial

40 Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018

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and request for object had fewer occurrences in the communication

process. Need based communication were demonstrated and
mothers never instructed their children to speak during the
process of interaction (Balan and Manjula, 2007). Though type of
disability is a significant factor in early identification, knowing the
benefits of early identification and acceptance of the condition in
all types of disability, parental and community education is equally
crucial. In a rare study (Grover, 2005) significant improvement in
academic performance of the siblings with ID was found when
planned intervention was given by their siblings.
Sustainability of a community-based model of human resource
development and coordination of services for people with intellectual
disabilities were reported by Narayan et al. (2017) wherein selection
of PwD within the community as resource persons contributed to the
success of the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) programme.
In another CBR programme, a critical ethnography was used to
inform positive changes for adolescents with disabilities using their
perspectives to empower adolescents in urban slums of northern
India to assume greater control over their rehabilitation with the
context of local community based rehabilitation programme (Gulati
et al., 2011). Edward Raj et al. (2010) confirmed the presence of
diverse multiple and contradictory models of disability drawing from
biomedical and local religious, social and cultural constructs while
exploring people’s cultural beliefs and attitudes about ID, perceived
needs and burden associated with care. The study confirmed that
care givers bore a high burden of care with little support from family
or society. They concluded that public awareness, education and
community level interventions for reducing the misconceptions and
stigma related to ID are needed in addition to culturally sensitive
treatment methods to improve the attitude towards management
of ID. A three year project in a disadvantaged community resulted
in CwD attending schools, participating in community forum and
more people bringing CwD for vaccination (Dalal, 2006)
Parents were found to be strategic agents who actively negotiate
a range of obstacles, resolve dilemmas and handle tensions to
ensure the child’s admission and continuity in school (Johansson,
2016). A phenomenological study by Dhar (2009) explored the
emotional suffering faced by family members of CwDD which
provided insight into the Indian socio-cultural milieu and its
impact on the family. Desai et al. (2012), through narratives from
parents of CwASD, gathered an understanding about the different

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phases they undergo while bringing up their children. Through

these narratives, both culture specific and potentially universal
levels of experiences were delineated in the overall findings
drawing implications for culturally sensitive research. Venkatesan
(2009) identified that the barriers of caregivers of CwDD originate
from their unfriendly environment such as shortage of reading
materials on child care, lack of institutional facilities, inadequate
teaching materials, lack of professional guidance, etc. Lack of
infrastructure for dissemination of information in a society that
holds negative perception of disability emerged as a common
concern in a study (Kalyanpur and Gowramma, 2007) employing
focus group discussion. Specific concerns of parents were seen in
the area of acquisition of language for pre-schoolers, and getting
an appropriate job for the adolescents. When social stigma, deep
rooted traditional beliefs embedded in cultural context control the
goal setting behaviours of parents of CwD, the individual is sure
to miss the identity and thereby the capabilities innate in them.
Heer et al. (2015) drawing from the narratives of parents suggested
a four stage process that included initial acceptance of diagnosis
of their child; regaining control through parenting skill training;
witnessing positive change in their children and themselves and
reaping personal benefits as a result of their involvement. Barriers
such as extreme poverty, social policy, cultural stigma and caste
system have tended to isolate people with disabilities, leading
to the struggle in many children and their families to integrate
into their community. Stigma prevailing in the society and lack of
infrastructure and facilities were observed to be the reasons for the
stark contrast in Indian and inter-country adoptions of kids with
disabilities between 2013 and 2016 (Kumar, 2017).
Rajesh and Dhanesh (2016) developed a behaviour technology
intervention module to establish the efficacy for enhancement of
marital adjustment and to deal with parental depression of CwD,
after studying the parents of children with CP, ID, Autism, MD
at special school and general services of National Institute for the
Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD). After
the intervention programme there was a considerable decrease in
marital problems and depression which in turn helped improve
quality of life among parents. Maternal stimulation for language
and cognitive development (Chaubey et al., 2010) and cognitive
package for mothers of slow learners (Saini et al, 2010) were
found to be effective in enhancing cognitive abilities of children.

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These studies show the importance of parents/family/mothers

in the process of education of their CwD that can be focussed
by professionals to reap maximum benefit. While analysing the
parents’ narratives, it was found that mothers were more likely
than fathers to reflect on themselves and on their relationship
with their child with autism. Further, it was found that parents
with relatively less income focused on their child’s immediate and
material needs, while higher income parents were more likely
to discuss their parental roles and vision for society. It was
felt that understanding parents’ experiences and narratives is
essential for the evaluation of intervention such as child training
programme, as Indian parents are incorporated into a growing
global network of “parents of CwA” (Brezis et al., 2015). Sharma
(2004) observed change in the behaviour of parents after trying
out an intervention programme of building awareness about the
disability and imparting skills of management of CwID.
A study was undertaken to find out the awareness about
rights, legislations, concessions and benefits and life cycle needs
relating to ID among family members. Moderate level of awareness
on legislative aspects among educated respondents was found.
Among the various aspects, the respondents were better aware of
benefits and concessions due to the direct utility in their day to
day activities (Kuppuswamy et al., 2012). Sridevi (2016) studied
the level of awareness about concession, benefits and rights of
their CwHI provided by central and state governments and found
moderate level of awareness. Fathers showed higher awareness
compared to mothers and level of education having no impact.
Through interview with Parents of CwASD, Mhatre et al. (2016)
found parental participation and higher maternal education
associated with better outcomes with reference to speech,
developing friendship and acquiring Activities of Daily Living skill
(ADLS). Quality support especially for poor families was found
to be for language and social development of children with ASD
(Ramachandran et.al., 2011). John and Montgomery (2016),
through qualitative interview with parents based on the causes,
treatment approach and perceived social effect of disability came
out with three models that parents adapt in dealing with their
children. First model, through religion and spirituality gave
positive frame to their child; the second model rejected religious
notions and did not dwell on the cause of disability but rather
focused on optimal rehabilitation of individual with ID; third

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model was characterised by maladaptive religious attributions

and rehabilitation approaches.
Chakravarti (2008) through narratives of parents highlighted
the prevailing adverse conditions of the PwD and their families
calling for a range of support service for successful care of a
member with disability in the community. The deprivation due
to deafness in the form of hearing and communication impose
certain developmental needs. Case study of two adolescent girls
by Limaye (2008) identifies that they emerge as self assertive and
individualistic and high spirited persons. But it is necessary to find
out the factors that contribute for positive attitude and enthusiasm
for life among girls with HI in the future studies. Mehrotra and
Vaidya (2008) in a case study of two NGOs working with the ID
engaged with the notion of masculinity and the manner in which
persons with ID are feminised and infantilised. In such a situation
educational opportunities give families the social space for
themselves and negotiate the social compulsions for normalcy and
competent adulthood.

Nutrition and Disability

The importance of balanced diet in reducing the impact of disability
on development is well known (Mathur et.al, 2007). Nutritional
profile of children with cognitive disability from a special school
revealed that many children suffered from nutritional deficiency
and parental education promoted feeding balanced diet (Ramdas
and Unnikrishnan, 2009). Abnormal teething and improper hand
– mouth coordination is seen to reduce calorie intake by children
with Down’s syndrome (Laxmi and Radha, 2017). Children with
cognitive disability are more likely to have difficulty in chewing and
swallowing and the tendency to spit out and vomit food (Mathur
et.al, 2007). However, parent counselling resulted in improving
eating habits of children. Thus, it can be inferred that awareness
among parents about nutritional food habit would go a long way in
helping children combat the negative effect of disability. Beneficial
effect of functional food in improving behavioural pattern of children
with Autism has been documented (Priya and Mageshwari, 2016).
Dietary intervention among CwD reduced some of the health issues
(Priyanga and Ramdas, 2013). A diet which excludes casein and
gluten can help in the elimination of opioid peptides from the
body of autistic children thereby helping to reduce the autistic
symptoms (Revathi and Mageshwari, 2010). Gluten and casein

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free recipes were developed by them and its acceptability through

counselling of mothers was seen and same was found to be better
acceptable by children with autism as compared to the standard
food. Inadequate consumption of specific micro-nutrients by
certain groups of children with CD was noted by Mathur et.al,
(2007) and they suggested regular assessment of nutritional
status of Children with Cognitive Disability (CwCD) for correcting
deficiencies. Yousafzai et.al., (2003) explored the nature, extent
and probable causes of nutritional deficiency of CwD living in
Dharavi slum in Mumbai and revealed no significant difference
between CwD and their siblings in food consumption, suggesting
no preferential treatment within the same household with regard
to children with and without disability. Findings of the food
patterns survey indicated that the process of eating was difficult
and painful if the child had disability and felt that improved feeding
would take place once the child was strong. CwD had lower mean
with reference to weight/age; height/age; weight/height; triceps
skin folds and haemoglobin and a higher prevalence of moderate
to severe malnutrition compared to the controls.
There is no denial to the fact that family and community are
the strong agencies to support the empowerment of CwD through
education. There is a need to have more research on the role of
parents/family/community to understand their perspectives and
strengthening their involvement in the process of education for
the children.

Effect of Other Marginalising Conditions

Disability itself leads to some degree of marginalisation and
alienation in the society. Often it is observed and theoretically
projected, that belonging to a particular community, socio-
economic status, gender and locale add additional dimensions to
the disadvantages faced by PwD.
A case study of students with disability of Tibetan immigrant
parents was taken up in a special school to study the socio
cultural attitude and educational practices and to identify areas for
improvement (Barnes et. al., 2014). The special school in Karnataka
was found suitable to Tibetan Buddhist belief about worth of the
individual and charitable services that can benefit the children
and their care givers in this life and this religious belief has its
determining role in how disability is confronted. Though charitable
service benefiting CwD is immediate concern for the religious

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minority migrant group, the crucial issues of empowerment through

education cannot be neglected. The findings pinpointed the need
of teacher professional development, assessment of academic
and behavioural needs of students, curriculum adaptation and
improvement in planning and monitoring as actual concerns to
be addressed.
A study on educational needs of children with Central Nervous
System (CNS) problem in North-East India revealed increased
dropout rate, as compared with same age children without
CNS related problems within the sample indicating that special
education is yet to produce satisfactory result for these children
(Jumi and Sarmah 2012). In another study conducted in the North
Eastern region, Nath and Naskar (2015) examined the relationship
between seizure disorder and ID and their socio-demographic
correlates to implement proper psychosocial intervention. A
significant percentage (22%) of CwID had associated condition of
seizure disorder which is seen to be increasing with the increase of
severity of ID. An association between severity of ID and frequency
of seizure disorder with rural habitation, poor parental education
and poor health care services was observed. Kumar and Kar
(2012) noted that the accessibility, availability and utilisation of
rehabilitation services and its cost effectiveness are the major
issues in rural India.
Based on a focus group interview with mothers and prospective
mothers, Ghai and Johri (2008) expressed their concern towards
the consequences of prenatal diagnosis as limiting the choice
of birth for girl child with disability, as disability is a social
construct and contextually located. A relatively unnoticed and
critical angle to the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act is possible
legitimisation of aborting children with disabilities. The gender-
based bias permeating into disability movement, though is resisted
by women with disabilities, Ghai (2002) being herself one, finds
the task of locating self as daunting. She observes that there is a
strong emphasis on mainstreaming women for self-development
in the national policy. In the document on women empowerment,
the paradox of hierarchy within hierarchy is evident when such
a document does not mention women with disability whereas
other groups are mentioned in terms of ‘welfare’. Barriga et.al.,
(2017) reported the conditions of government and privately run
psychiatric hospitals and institutions in different countries
including India where girls with disabilities, particularly with

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psychosocial or intellectual disabilities, are at a heightened risk of

violence, including sexual violence. Human Rights Watch (2014)
recorded the forced institutionalization, denial of health care and
violence and exploitation against women and girls with disabilities
in India. Kalyanpur (2008) observes the additional vulnerability of
girls with disabilities for reasons of safety, which in turn leads to
low probability of accessing educational and vocational services.
Keeping in mind the cultural differences across states and
communities in India, Kalyanpur (2008a) attributes favourable
rate of survival for girls with disabilities to cultural norms. Plight
of women with disability is very depressing, observed Dawn (2014),
as they face a triple handicap and a discrimination due to their
disability, belonging to a particular community and being a girl,
and suggest support through CBR. In another angle to looking
at education of girls with disability, Halder (2009) lamented on
the huge rate of wastage and stagnation of girls at the primary
and secondary level of education and also explored constraints
faced by orthopedically challenged women in their way towards
higher education in Indian society. He noted the brute physical
or architectural barriers, financial constraints and attitudinal
barriers having significant influence on the higher education of
women with disability.
Women with disabilities in India face double discrimination due
to prevalence of traditional gender roles and expectations (Mehrotra,
2004). Conducting studies on the same population Mehrotra (2006,
2008) further remarked that due to the availability of special schools
and vocational training in urban areas, women with disabilities
living in urban area have higher chances of equipping themselves
with skills of independent living and income generation. In contrast,
the majority that live in rural areas, are completely dependent on
parents for chances of survival and support. Based on a survey
on women with disabilities, Agnihotri (2007) formulated a series
of recommendations with a view to improve their life chances. The
study found that there were more females than males with disability
living in poverty and the number was higher among rural than
urban areas. Exploring various modes through which life chances
can improve, the research pointed towards providing safety from
physical and emotional violence in addition to education and
employment. Philip (2015), in an exhaustive study of single case,
identified the possible factors that affect life chances of girls with
disability from low economic homes in rural India and also observed

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that they are often regarded as useless by their community. The

most significant factors that seem to affect their life chances were
parental hesitation, lack of opportunity and low self-esteem and
confidence. It was hypothesised that awareness programme,
counselling and implementation of home based education services
may improve the life chances of girls with disability.
More research is needed to understand the double disadvantage
inherent in the cultural and social milieu affecting CwD.

Transition, Employment and Higher Education of PwD

Passage from one condition either with reference to schools, higher
education or world of work and adjusting in those situations is
highly demanding. Students with disabilities in general are known
to struggle with any of these transitions. Transition emerged as an
important theme in parental interview – transition from one school
stage to next and transition into adult life (Singal, 2014). Analysis
of the in-school and post-school transition services for students
with mild ID showed that inconsistent alignment existed between
transition goals and achieving these goals. While documenting
the experiences of SwD transitioning from high school to college,
an increased attention to social skills in secondary education has
been highlighted (Joshi and Bouck, 2017).
The employment rate of Indian population in 2002 was 37.6
per cent for people with disabilities and 62.5 per cent for overall
population (Mitra and Sambamoorthi, 2006a). This rate actually
fell from 42.7 per cent in 1991 down to 37.6 per cent, a period
when the employment rate for the general population rose (World
Bank, 2009). In India, 87 per cent of people with disabilities
work in informal sector (Mitra and Sambamoorthi, 2006b). A
paper investigating the implications of economic restructuring
in the arenas of social programmes shows that while increased
employment opportunities and accessibility have benefited middle
class and highly skilled PwD, the majority of them have been left
out of India’s economic affluence (Hiranandani and Sonpal, 2010).
A case study on two adults with ID to identify the possibilities
of including them in community jobs through a Community Based
Vocational Training and Placement (CBVTP) model was tried out
successfully (Singh et. al., 2010) that could be implemented for the
larger group. Special schools though vary in offering life centred
career education, the majority of SwID exhibited independent
level of work readiness skills and vocational competency (Vanitha,

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2014). While analysing the 2001 Census data through linear

regression and spatial autoregressive models it was found that
there was variation in the employment of PwD with reference to
certain demographic variables (Naraharisetti and Castro, 2016).
Hence poverty elevation programme designed for PwD in India
should account for differences in employment by disability types
and should be spatially targeted. Duration in special school and
nature of vocational placement are not found to be influencing
factors in deciding the work related skills among adults with ID
(Mathew and Sukumaran, 2016).
Employer attitude is influenced by the type of disability and
its presentation. In addition, realistic and conventional tasks are
considered appropriate for employees with disabilities (Santilli
et al., 2014). Sankardas and Rajanahally (2015) investigated
the importance of specific skill training for young adults with
disabilities in retail sector. Employers showed mixed attitude
towards employing PwD. A noteworthy study to examine the
impact of policies/programmes/schemes in the lives of PwD was
conducted by Diversity and Equal Opportunity Centre (DEOC,
2009) enlisting the concerns with recommendations.
Reservation for PwD in higher education was viewed favourably
by students with disabilities studying in university but all the
students were not aware about it (Mohanty and Jena, 2016). Though
availability of supportive materials was reported by students in the
study, there were also voices regarding their inadequacy compared
to the number of students using them. Students with disabilities
face various problems in pursuing higher education though they
received support from various sources such as university, family,
friends and teachers and some were very categorical about their
special needs in order to achieve their goals (Prema and Dehadrai
2012). The study gave an opportunity to gain an understanding
into the coping strategies students themselves evolved to manage
in situations arising out of their needs. While analysing various
educational opportunities and facilities in higher education, gender
difference was found to be non significant in the level of satisfaction
among students with disabilities (Bano, Akhter and Anjum, 2013).
They also found that SwD were highly adaptive and were aware
about their shortcomings. While attending to a range of barriers
encountered for SwHI in higher education Gathoo (2013) discussed
prominent issues and suggested approaches to overcome.

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An understanding into the post school outcomes experienced

by PwD may lead to identification of elements that could be
inculcated into the school programmes. In addition, the western
models of transition that are developed as a way of meeting the
needs of students as identified by research has to be adapted and
validated for Indian context. Gowramma (2012) investigated the
employment options and highlighted the successful models of
providing employment to PwD in private sectors, suggesting the
need to explore more options as discrete examples would not serve
the purpose owing to the magnitude of population. A framework to
understand the factors that are both favourable and unfavourable
creating inclusive environment in institutions in higher education
has been brought out which can be helpful for improving the
support services for students with disability.

Teacher Education and Teacher Competence vis-a-vis CwD

Teacher education programme at the pre-service level is a vital
space for bringing desired changes in the education of CwD. This
realisation needs to be supported by research based action points
to be taken at the field/classroom level. The formulation of RCI
Act as well as the establishment of national institutes for PwD,
Department of Special Education in Universities and several other
initiatives to contribute enormously special education, integrated
education and inclusive education. However, special education
and related service expertise and teacher education for inclusion,
is not in place to support teachers to work inclusively (Sharma
et al., 2013). Special education was initiated as a social welfare
activity and the flavour seems to be continuing though the shift
is towards right based education in the new millennium. Some
of the teacher education programmes continue to be out of the
ambit of the universities and apex bodies that empower and
regulate teacher education. These issues need immediate attention
both from researchers and administrators. With the NCTE (2014)
regulations, all the teacher education programmes including special
education have increased the duration of B Ed and M Ed from one
year to two years. The curriculum is revised to include inclusive
education in core and pedagogy courses in addition to adding a
standalone course on inclusive education. Teacher preparation
for elementary level also is changing in the light of the new NCTE
document. These have indeed brought new breeze into the existing
teacher preparation programmes. However, the school internship
and framework guidelines of NCTE (2016) is silent about the

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need to develop professional competency towards diversity in the

classroom, though field experience is the vital component of the
teacher education programme to develop sensitivity towards CwD.
Researchers (Myreddi and Narayan, 2000; Sharma and
Deppeler, 2005) believe that majority of teachers in Indian schools
have inadequate training to address an increasingly diverse
population. Johansson (2014a) found that there exists a varying
and limited awareness of autism among school staff and asserted
the need for re-assessing special educators’ courses. Another
related substantial challenge lies in communicating the research
based intervention strategies to the would-be-teachers (Byrd 2010).
Gaur (2010) noted that nearly 50% of the competencies not being
transacted in pre-service training programmes. Therefore, the
B.Ed. programme does not make a positive impact on knowledge
and attitude of student teachers regarding inclusive education
practices (Gafoor and Asaraf, 2009). Their study further revealed
that attitude towards inclusion was less favourable among female
student teachers. This may be because these pre-service teachers
do not receive practical, real life experiences of inclusion. Lack
of exposure to SwD during the pre-service programme was
linked to lack of concern and negative attitude towards inclusion
(Sharma et al., 2009). A study to analyse the perspective of the
teachers regarding their competence to function effectively in
an inclusive classroom showed that both general education and
special education programmes do not equip the student teachers
for teaching in an inclusive classroom (Gowramma, 2014). Singh
(2014) explored research and practice through reflections of
teachers and teacher educators on education of children with
special needs. Several focus areas were identified and it was
recommended that TE must be restructured for effective delivery
of education in the inclusive mode and its focus should be around
inclusive policies, cultures and practices. Having student teachers
with disability in the pre-service programme is observed to have
a positive impact on the attitude of prospective teachers towards
inclusive education for CwD (Gowramma and Mohanty, 2017).
Assuming the entire school to be an inclusive space, demanding
collaboration between regular, special and physical education
teachers, for successful inclusion of children with disabilities
in all activities of school life, the pre-service teacher education
programmes like B.Ed., B.P. Ed. and B.Ed. Special were analysed
(Bharti, 2015). The analysis revealed that some programmes of

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special education have an optional paper on inclusion but inputs

on inclusive teaching practice were not found. Pre- service physical
teacher education programme did not sensitize student teachers
about children with disabilities and how to accommodate their
needs in physical education activities. The special education
programme was found to prepare teachers only for special education
set up. The situation may change with the NCTE (2014) regulation
mandating compulsory inclusive education as a course in all the
teacher education programmes. Comparing pre- and post-NCTE
(2014) regulations with reference to curriculum and teaching
practice along with teacher competency can be taken as priority
areas for researching teacher education in the future.
For the concept of inclusion, as an ideology to be assimilated
right from the classroom level, there is no doubt that the general/
regular teachers are the key players (Mani, 2016; Srivastava et
al., 2015). Studies (Mishra, 2013; Srivastava et al, 2015) show
an improvement in attitude and knowledge about dyslexia,
intellectual disability, ASD and teaching method after an in-service
training programme among regular school teachers. Teaching
experience, prior training and exposure were positively correlated
with knowledge of dyslexia among regular teachers (Shetty and
Rai, 2014), where as teaching experience and familiarity with LD
was not observed to be affecting the knowledge level of teachers
in any way (Saravanabhavan and Saravanabhavan, 2010). Such
contradictions in findings call for analysing associated factors
relating to personal and institutional set up along with pointing
towards the need for large scale studies across levels and locations.
The sustainability of such in-service programmes with reference
to the approach and duration needs to be discussed for validating
such a programme.
Parween and Dheesha (2016) felt the need to provide cross
disability training for the special educators working at inclusive
schools in order to equip them in different disability areas. Study
by Das et.al. (2012) found that teachers are not adequately
prepared for the implementation of inclusive education and many
teacher educators in India have not witnessed the true functioning
model of inclusion in which the needs of all children are met
within regular education classrooms. The study also emphasised
on the professional development programme planners to consider
a ‘bottom-up’ strategy rather than a ‘top-down’ process for the
determination of training programme content and format to

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reduce teacher isolation as well as making the programme more

meaningful and relevant for the participants. Also, due to the large
teacher population and the limited availability of fiscal resources in
India, it is further proposed that the training programmes for these
teachers should be carried out using the ‘train-the-trainer’ model.
Teacher Competency
A key factor in the success of IE is teachers’ professional competence
to work with CwD as it is at the heart of initiatives for inclusive
practices in schools. After reviewing the research literature, Sarkar
(2015) observed that teachers’ self-efficacy, attitude and concern
should be given due emphasis for successful inclusion of
children with special needs in school education. For teaching in an
inclusive classroom teachers need to possess skills and knowledge
that help them to plan and implement strategies that provide
wider access to regular classroom (Nagpal and Sangeeta, 2012).
Based on an analysis of inclusive practices in schools, Kusuma
and Ramadevi (2013) opined that with more confident and skilled
teachers the inclusive education programme will have a positive
impact on the awareness of the community. In a case study of a
school, Kaur (2010) found principals show a favourable attitude
towards inclusion of SwD. However, as pointed out by Pandey
(2009), their lack of knowledge on provisions in implementing IE.
Moreover, mathematics teachers with professional qualifications
were found to be using teaching strategies that are supportive to
inclusive education (Reddy and Rangan, 2001; Sharma, 2009).
The study by Subramanian and Manickaraj (2017) indicated a
significant correlation between knowledge about children with
special educational needs and attitudes towards disability and
teacher efficacy for inclusive practices. Teachers teaching CwD
do face challenges and are not able to practice even the simple
principles of teaching like repeating their explanations, instructions
or questions etc. and they need awareness building programme
and specialised trainings (Beniwal, 2014). If inclusive education is
truly to become effective, then there is a requirement for teachers
to gain more knowledge and understanding of how inclusion can
be defined and operationalized within the context of the Indian
educational system (Hodkinson and Devarakonda, 2009) and
managing disruptive behaviours were likely be more efficacious.
Singh (2016) found that teacher’s initiatives in the mainstream
classroom helped the students with mild and moderate disability

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in understanding difficult content and ensure their participation

in curricular activities. Moreover, the attitudinal changes of
teachers helped in making integration of children with mild and
moderate disabilities successful. While analyzing the teachers’
preparedness to address social and academic needs of SwD,
Singh (2007) found that SwD are not stigmatized in school
but pedagogical process was abysmal with complete absence
of accommodations. The inter-group contact and teachers’
classroom practices influenced the social status of students
with disabilities in regular classrooms (David and Kuyini, 2012).
The implication of these findings are that teachers can make a
difference in the social inclusion experiences of students and that
such inclusion may also allow for better school outcomes that are
associated with increased peer interaction amongst students with
and without disabilities.
Studies (Das et al., 2013; Gowramma 2014; Shah et al.,
2013; Singal 2013) have documented that both primary and
secondary school teachers rated themselves as having limited or
low competence for working with SwD. A study by Maheshwari
and Shapurkar (2015) revealed that teachers had an inadequate
amount of information on disabilities and inclusive education.
Disability to most teachers meant “an inability to do something”.
Although, maximum number of teachers held a moderately
positive attitude towards inclusive education, a large percentage
felt that being in inclusive set up would be very challenging for
both children with special needs and without special needs. In
this regard, as shown by Das et al. (2012), there is a need for
developing additional competencies like professional knowledge,
classroom management, collaboration, assessment and evaluation,
instructional technology, individual/adaptive instruction and
assistive technology for successful teaching in inclusive classroom.
An exalted attention should to be given to reconnoiter proper
strategies for ensuring implementation of the inclusive education
for children with special needs in a pragmatic and systematic
manner keeping in mind the diverse need and varied confronting
issues of the country (Sarkar, 2017). According to Nagpal (2015),
majority of the teachers were found to have high degree of concern
about inadequate special education instructional material and
teaching aids but they do not have knowledge and skills required
to teach students with disabilities. Poornima and Reddy (2009)
observed that teachers working in the special schools with good

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infrastructure facilities were experiencing low level of stress than

those working with poor infrastructure facilities.
Several studies (Astha et.al, 2011; Bansal, 2013; Bhakta and
Shit, 2016; Billing, 2017; Mehra, 2016; Parasuram, 2006; Sahu,
2005; Singh, 2001) have been conducted to find out the effect of
different variables on the attitude of teachers towards inclusive
education of SwD, such as teachers’ gender, locale, qualifications,
experience, training, age, acquaintance with PwD, medium and
type of school, etc. The results indicated no coherence in the
pattern observed. In general, female teachers possessed more
positive attitude than male teachers. A study by Sharma et al.
(2009) found that large majority of pre-service teachers did not
have ongoing contact with persons with disabilities. Such contact,
if systematically designed, can significantly improve pre-service
teachers’ attitudes and, subsequently, their behaviour in the class.
The attitude of the teachers toward children with disabilities
was strongly influenced by the nature of disabilities (Sharma,
2002). Teachers showed positive attitude toward visual and
hearing impairments and least positive toward the ID and those
with behavioural problems. Kakkar (2014) reviewed various factors
affecting the attitude of teachers towards inclusive education
such as provision of more resources and support, flexible and
accessible curriculum, pre-service and in-service training. The
heads of schools and regular teachers in the secondary schools
were found to have different levels of attitude (i.e., favourable and
unfavourable) towards Inclusive Education Programme for Children
with HI (Ramakrishna and Rajeswari, 2016). Shetty and Rai (2014)
study assessed the knowledge of dyslexia in elementary school
teachers and the variables influencing the knowledge. Teaching
experience, prior training and exposure were positively correlated
with knowledge.
Bhatnagar and Das (2014 a, 2014 b), Shah et al. (2016) identified
concerns and barriers perceived by regular school teachers
regarding inclusion of students with disabilities. Concerns include
poor infrastructure, financial limitations, large class size and
barriers such as lack of trained teachers, lack of inclusion policy,
lack of differentiation in instruction, parental pressure, teacher
anxiety and negative attitudes were reported. Bhatnagar and Das
(2013) also found that the teachers in Delhi had a moderate level
of concern for implementing inclusive education in their schools
and were not concerned about increase in their workload due

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to inclusion. They further indicated that they had not received

training in special education. In many context and situations,
special teachers teaching CwD continued to face problems
regarding non-cooperation of government officials which have the
responsibility of inclusive education under SSA. Another issue is
in terms of job insecurity and associated pressure due to heavy
workload. All these problems adversely affect the implementation
of inclusive education under SSA (Dubey and Pandey, 2012).
As the body of knowledge and experience about inclusive
education grows, schools must be ready to adapt to reflect the ever-
changing needs of teachers. Williams et al. (2013) found that learning
package improves the competency of primary school teachers
regarding learning disabilities. Similar packages to develop teacher
competency in all areas of disabilities are to be explored and tried
out. To fill the gap, in depth and long term studies of the process of
learning of CwD in the context of inclusive classroom/school needs
to be documented. Recording the best practices with specific focus
on teacher competency and attitude can generate ideas and also
serve as resource for teacher professional development.
In conclusion, the studies provide valuable insights into
teachers’ readiness to implement inclusive education programmes.
The journey of teacher preparation has to start with the assertion
to prepare teachers with a view to integrate their in the classroom.
Future research would need to consider other methods of identifying
teachers’ readiness such as personal or focus group interviews
and classroom observations. Responses from other stakeholders
including administrators, teacher educators, special education
teachers and parents of students with disabilities would also
be helpful in validating the responses obtained from the regular
school teachers.

Development of Materials Supporting Education of CwD

It is recognised that disability is the outcome of the interaction
between a child with impairment and an environment with
barriers that hinder their participation on an equal basis with
others (WHO, 2015). Material development to support education
of CwD is an indispensable component of research as it goes a
long way in overcoming the barriers. Hence adapted learning
resources, packages for teacher professional development and a
host of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) based
materials can reduce or eliminate such barriers. Adapted textbooks

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at primary level (NCERT, 2014) and upper primary level (NCERT,

2015), a reading series for all to give equal access to reading with
inbuilt features that facilitates every child to read (Ahuja, 2016)
are some efforts in this direction. Awareness packages (Julka,
2003) and manuals (Julka, 2007) have been designed and tried
out for professionals dealing with education of CwD. Cornelius and
Balakrishana (2012), observing the challenges of CwID, suggested
model curriculum emphasizing the removal of grade placement
underpinning learning in CwID. Considering the challenges of
education of children with multiple disabilities, Selvi (2009)
developed and validated curriculum for CwVI and CwID. While
providing a package to enhance Braille reading techniques among
students with VI, Geetha and Roy (2012) found that vast majority
of blind students who are employed are Braille readers suggesting
the crucial role it plays in giving them complete independence and
self-reliance.
Access to assistive technology is a precondition for achieving
equal opportunities, enjoying human rights and living in dignity
(WHO, 2015). In this direction, several assistive devices have been
developed and validated by some of the institutes pioneering in
the area of education of CwD. Technology to support independent
living and learning were developed by Subashini (2017) such
as Smart Walking Device, and GPS based University Navigation
System that enables PwVI to move independently; E-campus, IVR
Banking Software and Barcode scanner-based book identification
system to improve self-reliance capacity of PwVI; and Web-based
program, E-campus system to provide specific access to various
students’ related services. Furthermore, barcode scanner based
Book Identification system to enable SwVI to identify and locate
desired book in library is also available.
Students with certain disabilities often have difficulty in
acquiring skills such as reading, listening or writing. To reduce
the problems faced by CwLD, Subashini (2017) has developed
Talk ‘N’ Learn based English phonic software, Digital Talking
Book (DTB), Fixture App, and Talking Book Application (TBA).
‘Learning Tool for Autism Spectrum Disorder Students’ to facilitate
a comprehensive learning environment for the students with ASD
has been developed.
A unique e-learning framework ‘e-Saadhya’ that adopts special
education pedagogies, curriculum, teaching and learning methods
digitally for persons with ASD and PwID has been developed by

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Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and

National Institute for Mentally Handicapped (NIMH). It supports
learning materials in various formats such as pictures, songs,
videos, audio stored in repository and accessible over internet
via computer or android mobile devices, which may be chosen
as per the learning need of students. The learning material is
designed on evidence-based scientific methods for students with
ASD and ID such as visual schedules, discrete trial learning and
applied behaviour analysis. The findings of training conducted for
100 special educators by C-DAC Bengaluru in collaboration with
NIMH and use of ‘e-Saadhya’ in 21 locations across India show
that these are most useful in training and educating students
with ASD and ID (Rao and Markham, 2014). These modules
are embedded with evidence-based pedagogies of Discrete Trial
Learning (DTL), Visual Schedules, Social Stories, Videos, Games
and Prototype Lessons, which can be customized according to
the needs of CwASD and CwID. A tailor made mobile application
SWAR – “Speak for Me” developed by C-DAC (http://learnwithme.
cdac.in) for improving verbal communication among children
with ASD improves communication considerably (Markham et.
al., 2014). It is a mobile-based communicator device that adopts
methodology of Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
that converts the typed texts to speech. Customised e-content in
the form of video, games and rhymes was seen to enhance learning
functional skill among students with intellectual disability having
autism (Markham, 2016).
Local languages, lack of good OCR software, non-adherence
to Unicode are identified as hindrance for the effective use of
technology in schools (TNN, 2016). Digital Accessible Information
System (DAISY) is an international standard for print that can be
read in Braille and large print on a computer or mobile phone.
Textbooks of the several states have been converted into DAISY
format and textbooks of other states are in the process. There is a
need for a clear accessibility policy that can be applied in all school
system (Manocha, 2016).
Though materials are developed through research and field-
testing, validation to ascertain its sustainability in the field
through further research is necessary. Support through research
based resource materials in the form of print and/or technology
is one of the key elements to advancing inclusion of children
with disabilities. An educated child with a disability supported

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by assistive technology will have greater opportunities for

employment, resulting in less dependence on welfare and social
security measures, and their greater contribution to the country’s
economy. Technology developers may need to think more about
how to integrate accessibility into applications early in the process
as assistive technology has been a missing link in the chain of pre-
requisite that enable CwD to lead a life where they can enjoy and
exercise their rights (WHO, 2015).

Research Related to Other Disabilities

This section encompasses studies that are mainly interdisciplinary
and focus on less known disabilities like seizure, cleft lip/palate.
Witnessing the performance by persons/children with disabilities
had the potential to increase disability awareness in the mainstream
classroom and challenge negative disability stereotypes that
influence how people with disabilities are made known in society.
A portrayal of disability in textbooks was analysed by Kaur (2015).
Ranjan (2013) analysed the response of CwLD, CwASD and
CwID for sensory stimuli in inclusive classroom. Significant
difference was observed between the mean scores of the children in
three groups wherein with the visual-auditory stimulus emerging
as the most preferred by CwLD and CwID. The CwASD were found
to prefer visual and vestibular stimuli. Chandrashekar et al. (2010)
identified the challenges faced by PwD and found stigma attached
to disability, fear of misuse of disability certificates, discomfort
in approaching government hospital, time constraint, negative
thinking about legal issues, denial of disability and ‘outside’
pressure to issue disability certificate, as major challenges. The
study recommends that the PwD should demand benefit, their voice
need to be recognised by the government, strong encouragement
and assistance should be given to persons with mental disability,
support for formation of an organisation, drive for attitude change,
monitoring of disability services, periodic review of lacuna in mental
health law and interdisciplinary studies in disability associated
and psychiatric disorders.
Need for systematic and dedicated programmes towards
creating awareness regarding cleft lip and palate among children
was highlighted by Thammaiah et al.(2011), which revealed that
parents of children with cleft palate and lip rely more on myth
rather than on treatment for a disorder arising from cleft lip and
palate. Kaur et al. (2013) assessed the oral hygiene and periodontal

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status of mentally and physically challenged people living in a

specialised institution and noticed that they paid least attention
to oral hygiene. The worst oral hygiene was found among mentally
challenged, suggesting the need of collaboration between social
services, public health authorities and dental professionals in
India as this important area remains neglected. Kannappan and
Laxmibai (2008) studied maladjustment behaviour in deviant
school boys observed significant change after yoga-cognitive
training and human relationship training. Compared to the general
population the seizures disorder is seen more among Children
with Communication Disorders (CwCD), (Mahesh and Geetha,
2010) and the researchers suggested measures to control seizures
disorder among CwCD.
Sen and Geetha (2011) studied the pattern of language deficits
among both monolingual and bilingual CwA and concluded that
bilingualism does not affect language abilities in CwA. Giving an
overview of studies carried out in India regarding management of
Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) which is deficit specific, Yathiraj
(2015) suggested compensatory and coping strategies to help
individuals with APD. A medical emergency condition, if delayed
in early rehabilitation, negatively affects the functional ability of a
child with CP and hence Thomas et al. (2015) recommend focusing
on the team management as an effective rehabilitation strategy.
A screening programme of primary school children for
communication disorder, observed that around 11.5% had some
form of communication disorder, with language disorder leading
the list and boys being more vulnerable to communication disorder
as compared to girls (Shanbal et al., 2015). The study highlighted
the importance of early identification of communication disorders
for better social and academic life. Deshmukh and Sovani (2016)
examined the efficacy of combined skills training and Cognitive
Behaviour Therapy in the treatment of stuttering and found that
significant improvement occurred while dealing with situation
anxiety, attitude to communication, assertiveness, self esteem
and fluency.
Halder and Talukdar (2013) studied different contributory
and causative factors of locomotor disability including the disease
status and the significance of poverty in relation to disability in the
eastern part of India. The study revealed that various diseases which
results in locomotor disability were someway related to poverty
such as malnutrition and hygiene during prenatal and postnatal

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period, illiteracy and socio cultural issues as well as carelessness

of the medical practitioners. A similar study by Padhyegurjar and
Padhyegurjar (2012) analysed the treatment seeking behaviour
for locomotor disability through community based cross sectional
observations and revealed very few percentage of PwLD approaching
speciality rehabilitative services due to low literacy level and poor
awareness of facilities. Upadhyay (2010) analysed the print media
(news, articles and advertisements) coverage on disability in order
to find out its role in creating educational awareness on disability
and found that locomotor impairment enjoy maximum coverage
followed by disability in general.

Research in Policy and Programme Implementation

Policy changes in case of education of CwD in India are driven
by growing international attention on disability, development
of education broadly and changing discourse around disability
(Singal, 2016 a). The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO,
2003) revealed that despite the efforts, about 94% of CwD did not
receive any educational services and marginalised groups such as
children from rural areas and girls with disabilities and individuals
with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) were further underrepresented.
Studies indicated fragmented implementation (Alur, 2002, Jangira
2002), uncertainty about the concept of inclusion (Singal 2005,
2006), inadequate resources and unfair dissemination (Jha 2001,
2004; Mohapatra 2004) indicating a lack of quality programming.
Julka (2002), while giving a regional perspective of inclusive
education in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) countries, said though children with disabilities are the
main focus in all the initiatives, all categories are yet to be covered.
The dominant approach towards care for these children still
exists. Status of implementation of Right of Children to Free and
Compulsory Education Act (RTE, Act 2009) with reference to CwD
(Soni, 2013) brought out the disparities existing in different states.
The sample states were found to be poor visionaries to implement
the Act. An evaluation study of a pilot project on inclusive education
(IE) by Chadha (2007) brought to focus the need for more work
and research to concretise, diversify and improve pedagogical,
educational and social strategies to promote the best interest of
CwD. Arya (2013) found that the dual delivery system of special
and mainstream education entails different settings, curricula and
services wherein affirming the rights of the CwD at par with other

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Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

children is a huge challenge. In a similar evaluation study, Julka

(2013) observed increase in enrolment of SwD at secondary level
is not recorded in all the states under IEDSS scheme. However,
the desire of students with disabilities to attend school can be
viewed as success of the scheme. Reviewing the literature on
inclusive education in India, Singal (2005) noted that the term
‘children with special needs’ is used synonymously with that of
CwD. Working with people with disabilities in the Indian context,
Pinto and Sahur (2001) observed that many families are reluctant
to record disability, particularly in view of the prevailing negative
attitude in most community. PwD living in society and engaged in
soliciting money might lead to the general perception about them
as someone to be pitied, shunned or supported by charity. Parents
cannot envision viable future for their children with disability and
fear of social isolation themselves.
In a research paper based on secondary sources Kamble
(2016) argued that efforts aimed at the education of CwD in India
have been largely framed by the distributive concept of social
justice, where the focus has been on equality in terms of access
and provision of resources. It is observed that working with such
a conception of justice is rather limiting and identifies two basic
flaws. First, it is too individualistic in its perspective and locates
the problem within the child. Secondly, it takes attention away
from questioning how social structures and institutions uphold
patterns of injustice. The SSA categorically brings the concerns
of CwD as it terms children with special needs (CWSN) under
the framework of IE so that no child is left out of the education
system (SSA 2006). It further extends the range of options from
special and mainstream/regular schools to Education Guarantee
Scheme and Alternative and Innovative Education (EGS/AIE) and
Home Based Education (HBE). Thus the model proposed by SSA
does not support the implicit assumption that inclusion should
strengthen or enable mainstream educational participation of
CwD. Understating the need for nurturing individual competencies
among all learners, the learning outcomes (NCERT 2017) outlines
process based specific learning indicators taking into account the
specific needs of children across disability at elementary stage.
However, the wider implication has to be ascertained taking into
account the reality with reference to specific disability in different
regions of the country.

62 Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018

Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

Conclusion
Enough ground has emerged to theorise that CwD are not able to
achieve their potentials due to lack of opportunity coupled with
negative attitude based on traditional thinking. The study by Singh
and Ghai (2009) points out the unremitting hope and potential of
CwD is often silenced by over arching “negativism” that surrounds
“disability”. They observed immense variation and fluidity in
children’s understanding of “disability”. The disabled children desire
to appear similar to “non-disabled” children, attributing disability
to existential causes. As we move forward, the development of
a more coherent agenda must be based on rigorous research
findings. More importantly, such evidence-gathering must involve
people with disabilities, as it is ultimately by listening to these
voices that we can begin to respond to their lived realities (Singal,
2016 b). In an article, Ramaa (2016) stressed the need to fill the
research gap of hearing children’s voice especially from those with
disabilities to make a significant contribution to a sustainable,
adaptable process of change.
Research clearly shows the benefits of early identification and
intervention. Hence the challenge of prevention, early identification,
medical rehabilitation, therapeutic services need to be researched
to guide practice. It is not only fiscally wise for the society to invest
in early intervention programme as they require less service in the
future but also due to the fact that neural plasticity almost gets
sealed by the end of early childhood. Hence prevention and early
intervention in the best interest of parent, child and the society
has to be taken up by researchers on priority basis. Experimental
studies focusing on treatment invariably has shown desired
effects. However, the challenges to conduct such studies owing to
the inter- and intra-individual factors interplaying in measuring
effects has to be borne in mind. As the experimental studies
have strong potential leading to application, their robustness
and reliability need to be maintained. While assessing treatment
efficacy, predictors of treatment outcome have to be identified so
that it may be custom made to suit individual. Clinical judgements
made based on deep understanding and principles of development
and experience are of strong support to professional practice in
the education of CwD. Engaging in appropriate treatments that
are based on sound theoretical principles from cognitive and
behavioural psychology that yield reliable outcomes remain an
untapped corner. Large scale studies on the evidences from

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Research in Education of Children with Disabilities

clinical studies in school set up needs to be taken up to benefit the

majority of children. More studies based on clearly defined topics,
conducted with high degree of rigor, set forth in the evidence based
standards are clearly needed and as conditions in society continue
to change the questions addressed will require occasional revising
to ensure that previously established knowledge still applied in the
same way it had in the past.
To support such an endeavour, early screening checklists that
are highly accurate are to be developed through scientific research
and field tested in a large scale. Focus on awareness building
among parents, community can bring in the much needed positive
angle to viewing disability. However, it has been agreed that access
to a free and quality education is a basic human right, it is time
that all children regardless of disability receive what is due to them.
Policy that is well informed by current scientific research seems
to be the vehicle needed for such a change. Many researchers
have recognised by now that their observations could not remain
in the realm of science, they have the potential to impact other
disciplines and better the lives of those that have been afflicted. As
a result, many studies now contain policy recommendations and
suggestions for teaching strategies.
After reviewing the research conducted in the past five years,
Ramaa (2016) concluded that the main area of concerns were;
a lack of well thought out policy, scanty resources, and limited
understanding of inclusion. She also remarked that some studies
were exemplary but not extensive, thus providing a scope to
replicate, with all types of disabilities and in various educational
settings. As educationists, constant endeavour should be made
to seek mechanisms through which these associations can be
truncated without being apologetic about focusing on a particular
dimension of marginalisation (Singal, 2011).
The situation in our country with diversity peeping from every
corner has to be borne in mind where providing education to all is
taking precedence to meeting the needs of children with disabilities
which is making the process painfully slow (Yadava 2013). However,
recent studies, such as that by Lamichhane and Sawada (2013),
have clearly noted that failure to invest in education of CwD has
a significant negative impact on national, economic and social
development. An effective option left is to begin the transformation
process in school through inclusive education.
In the evolutionary process of education of the CwD there is a
progressive trend moving from welfare paradigm to empowerment.

64 Indian Educational Review, Vol. 56, No.2, July 2018

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The international trend shows a shift towards more inclusive

environment in schools ignoring labels and preventing failures.
This is a positive direction to move towards the rights based
approach focusing on individual scaffolding. This trend needs to
be replicated in the Indian context with rigor to bring the ripple of
change that may reach the ground in the near future.

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