Needs and Problems of Students with Disabilities Enrolled in Inclusive Governmental Schools

Background: Students with disabilities have numerous daily living, health care, psychological, social, educational, and environmental problems and unmet needs. Aim of the study: Assess needs and problems of students with disabilities enrolled in inclusive governmental school in Ismailia city. Design: A descriptive design was utilized in this study. Setting: The present study was conducted in nine inclusive governmental schools in Ismailia city. Sample: A purposive sample of 163 students with disabilities and their parents. Tools of data collection: Two tools named tool I structured interview questionnaire about personal characteristics of disabled students and their parents, disability profile, needs and problems of disabled students, tool II school physical environment observational checklist. Results: Showed that 93.9% of the studied students their needs were unmet while more than half 59.5% of the studied students had many problems and the majority 89% of the observed schools had fair environmental condition for inclusion of disabled students. Conclusion: Students with disabilities in inclusive governmental schools encountered a varied range of problems and had several unmet needs. Also, there was statistically significant difference between studied student’s educational level and their needs and problems. Recommendations: Educational program in schools for students with disabilities about healthy lifestyle, hygienic practices, dental care, and routine physical checkup.