Segregated Special Education for Visually Impaired Children in Socialist Serbia – Isolation and/or Preparation for Life and Work?

The article explores certain aspects of the development of special education for visually impaired children and youth in socialist Serbia. The crucial question is whether the development of segregated special education was characterised by isolating such children and youth or whether it served as a means of preparing them for independent life and work. The research is based on oral history and personal testimonies from users of segregated primary and secondary educational institutions for students with visual impairments in Serbia during the socialist era. The article primarily focuses on individual life stories and perspectives, presenting one of the approaches to analysing this complex issue. Furthermore, drawing on one of the testimonies, the paper provides an opportunity to identify and highlight both similarities and differences across the individual republics of socialist Yugoslavia, albeit exploratively and broadly.