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The purpose of the chapter is to give an overview of special education in Iceland, historically and with reference to modern use of terms, research, policy, legal trends and funding. Recent data is provided on demographic developments amongst children in Iceland and detailed account is given of practices in schools, including collaboration with parents and teacher education. Finally some issues and challenges are discussed that still remain to be solved with respect to meeting the special needs of students in school. One of the findings is that only 1.3% of students attend special schools and special classes and that the term special education has outlived its usefulness except perhaps in the context of the three segregated special schools that still remain in the country. Official papers have replaced it with the term special support. Despite a diversity of views and practices the main implication is that a new model of education is required, in line with that proposed by Slee where the needs of individuals are served in all schools and the binary thinking related to regular versus special education is no longer necessary.

The Government of Indonesia has started committing to promoting inclusive education since the release of the Minister of National Education of Indonesia's Regulation Number 70 of 2009, which focuses on discussing inclusive education. Indonesia has been facing some challenges with implementing inclusive education, including teachers' attitudes and skills, community acceptance, and support systems. However, considerable efforts have been made by related parties to implement this type of education. Besides issuing regulations, the government has produced and developed many programs regarding inclusive education. School members, professionals, and therapists work hand in hand to help special needs children in an inclusive school setting. Furthermore, the community has played its role as advisors, supporters, controllers, and mediators of the lives of children with special needs. At last, international organizations have been taking part in programs dedicated to inclusive education in Indonesia. It is hoped that all these collaborations will highly benefit the implementation of this education system.

As a result of human right movements, the importance of special needs of individuals with disabilities has become more prominent in many countries in the world. Hence, endeavors of people with disabilities, their family members, and advocates to seek accessible communities and equal opportunities for education, as well as, job placement have been widely accepted as human rights for individuals with disabilities. Consequently, establishing barrier-free environments and inclusive societies for people with disabilities have become important indicators of social development of countries. Besides, since education is considered as a fundamental human right, the importance of providing special education for children with disabilities has been recently realized by many nations (United Nations. (2006). World programme of action concerning disabled persons. New York, NY: United Nations). Turkey is one of those countries that have quite recently started to invest in special education services for its citizens with disabilities. This chapter focuses on the development, as well as the current state of special education in Turkey. Included in this development are the following sections: origins of Turkish special education, prevalence and incident rates, trends in laws and regulations, educational interventions, working with families, teacher preparation, progress that has been made, and special education challenges that exist.

The Ghana chapter on special education begins with the history of service provisions for persons with disabilities. It includes information on educational and rehabilitation services, special schools and integrated education. Detailed data is related concerning prevalence and incidence rates and special needs among the Ghana population. This is followed by a comprehensive section on regular and special education teacher roles, expectations, and training. An important aspect of Ghana’s special education is its movement towards inclusive education. The support for this movement comes from the Ministry of Education’s policy, namely, The Education Strategic Plan (ESP), which adopts inclusive education and promotes it as the future special education direction for the country. The chapter provides detailed information on the issues related to the implementation of the ESP plan, four models that have been developed for inclusive education, the progress and effort that Ghana has made towards inclusive education as well as significant challenges that are present.

Using Andersen’s (1968) behavioral model of health services use as a guiding conceptual framework, this study examined how receipt of family-centered care relates to the perceived family challenges for families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Data from the 2009–2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN) were analyzed for 812 parents of children with ASD.

Multiple regression analyses provided substantive statistical evidence that a child’s race, the adequacy of a family’s insurance, and the stability of child’s health care needs significantly contributed to predicting his or her receipt of family-centered care. Further results suggested a relationship between receipt of family-centered care and the perception of challenge for these families; families receiving family-centered care perceive fewer challenges and feel less unmet need for child health services.

Family-centered professionals provide critical voices in the development of policies and programs geared toward improving the health outcomes of children with ASD and their families.

Inclusion of children with special needs into mainstream schools reflects a society’s view of their role as caregivers for all citizens, regardless of any understanding of the benefits that educating for inclusion might have. Although inclusion should be conducted throughout all areas of life, frequently people refer to it only as an academic process that teachers must be responsible for. Thus, such inclusion provides teachers with the opportunity to lead future generations towards the development of societies that indeed practice inclusion as a natural process. However, even if we decide to focus on the process only from the school perspective, in practice teachers cannot conduct it efficiently without proper training. This chapter is thus designed to promote the understanding of possible implications of the new inclusion policy in Israeli elementary schools which will allow the development of innovative and quality teacher-training programmes, and the quality of teaching in general.

Guided by a life course theoretical perspective, this study aimed to examine associations between providing caregiving for a young or adult son or daughter with special needs and multiple dimensions of physical health status among married midlife and older adults, as well as moderation of these associations by gender and marital quality (i.e., marital strain).

Regression models were estimated using data from 1,058 married adults aged 33–83 (National Survey of Midlife in the U.S. (MIDUS), 2005).

Parental caregiving for a young or adult child with special needs (in contrast to no caregiving) was linked to poorer global health and more physical symptoms among both fathers and mothers. Father caregivers reported slightly more chronic conditions than noncaregiving men, regardless of marital quality. By contrast, mother caregivers reported a much higher number of chronic conditions when they also reported a high level of marital strain, but not when they reported a low level of marital strain.

Overall, results provide evidence from a national sample that midlife and older parents providing caregiving for a child with special needs are at risk for poorer health outcomes, and further tentatively suggest that greater marital strain may exacerbate health risks, particularly among married mother caregivers.

This chapter focusses on contradictions within existing legislation to develop an equitable and effective educational system for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It highlights tensions between the underlying aims of the legislation and the implementation of policies, specifically on admissions and exclusions with reference to the current government proposals for an increase in Alternative Provision (AP). It considers the response of Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) to ensure an acceptable practice of inclusion while raising overall standards of attainment. It also considers the Government Green paper response to increasing pressure from parents for more appropriate levels of support for their children with SEND.

Examines issues related to the integration of children with special needs into regular classrooms. A clear definition of integration is crucial before it can be considered on a system, school, or individual basis, so that all stakeholders can operate within a common frame of reference. Details the Regular Educational Initiative in the United States and the Alberta movement towards a provincial integration policy which offer insight into the need for these matters: (1) clear principles and practices for identifying children′s special needs and determining the best teaching environments for meeting those individual needs; (2) systematic research on service delivery models, and educational change based on demonstrated programme effectiveness; (3) adequate preparation for all classroom teachers on individualizing student educational programmes; and (4) development of adequate school and community support systems for children with special needs and their families.

In 2014, Japan ratified the CRPD, which spurred to the development of domestic laws; however, the education section of the Convention does not clarify how to educate children with disabilities in inclusive education. Thus, while the global inclusive education goal advocated by UNESCO and other bodies concerns education for all, inclusive education in Japan is seen as education for children with disabilities, and the philosophies and practices are very different. Therefore, this chapter introduces the policies and current practices of inclusive education in Japan and discusses the possibilities for school education reform from the perspective of real inclusive education.