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Special Education Today in Guatemala

Special Education International Perspectives: Practices Across the Globe

ISBN: 978-1-78441-096-4

Publication date: 16 September 2014

Abstract

Special education in Guatemala started in the 1940s with the establishment of schools for the blind. While there is a relatively large population of persons with disabilities, the country has an insufficient number of educational and rehabilitation programs because the country is very impoverished. Guatemala has enacted a number of disability laws in the 1990s and early 2000s that enable persons with disabilities to participate in educational services to develop their capabilities and to deter discrimination. The government has three categories of disability, namely, physical, sensory, and intellectual. Most of the special education schools and rehabilitation workshops are in the capital city with few programs in rural areas. Many children with special education needs do not attend school. The government offers public service to families of children with disabilities. In the 1980s, the government formed partnerships with United States universities to help develop service plans for students with disabilities as well as train school personnel in effective instructional methods due to a shortage of licensed teachers. While special education is improving it has a long way to go.

Citation

Rodriguez, D., Luterbach, K.J. and de Gaitan, R.E. (2014), "Special Education Today in Guatemala", Special Education International Perspectives: Practices Across the Globe (Advances in Special Education, Vol. 28), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 91-106. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0270-401320140000028010

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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