Hewitt-Taylor J
School of Health and Social Care, Bournemouth University, Royal London House, Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH13LT, UK.
Child Care Health Dev. 2009 Jul;35(4):521-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2009.00965.x. Epub 2009 Mar 23.
An increasing number of children have complex and continuing health needs. These children have the same right to a full range of education opportunities as other children.
This paper reports on the findings from a small qualitative study of the experiences of parents whose children have complex heath needs, related to their experiences of their child's education. Interviews with parents were used to generate data.
Parents encounter a number of challenges to their children achieving equal opportunities in relation to education. The factors which influence their opportunities include: staffing issues, funding issues, the attitudes of individuals and organizations, staff confidence in meeting children's needs, clarity over responsibilities and funding. For parents, what seemed most important is not whether their child accesses mainstream education, but whether the school which they attend assists them to achieve their potential. Children who have complex health needs may have to make a greater effort than their peers to achieve educational goals, and may miss considerable school time. This can impact on their leisure time. Accessing pre-school education can be difficult for children who have complex health needs.
Inclusion in education should include pre-school provision, and more work in this area would be beneficial. Inclusion in mainstream education is only beneficial if it enables the child to participate fully with their peers. This requires practical and organizational issues to be addressed, services to be well co-ordinated, responsibilities and funding to be clear, and staff to be enabled to be confident in meeting the child's needs. However, it is also vital that individuals and organizations have a positive attitude to children and to inclusion. The additional effort and time which children may have to spend on their school work because of their health needs should also be recognized and supported appropriately.
越来越多的儿童有着复杂且持续的健康需求。这些儿童与其他儿童一样，享有获得全方位教育机会的权利。
本文报告了一项小型定性研究的结果，该研究涉及孩子有复杂健康需求的家长的经历，与他们孩子的教育经历相关。通过与家长访谈来收集数据。
家长们在让孩子获得平等教育机会方面面临诸多挑战。影响孩子教育机会的因素包括：人员配备问题、资金问题、个人及组织的态度、工作人员满足孩子需求的信心、责任和资金的明确性。对家长来说，最重要的似乎不是孩子是否进入主流教育，而是他们所就读的学校是否帮助孩子发挥其潜力。有复杂健康需求的孩子可能要比同龄人付出更多努力才能实现教育目标，并且可能会缺课很多。这会影响他们的休闲时间。有复杂健康需求的孩子很难获得学前教育。
教育包容应包括学前教育服务，在这一领域开展更多工作将大有裨益。只有当主流教育能让孩子充分与同龄人一起参与时，融入主流教育才是有益的。这需要解决实际和组织方面的问题，服务要得到良好协调，责任和资金要明确，工作人员要有信心满足孩子的需求。然而，个人和组织对孩子及教育包容持有积极态度也至关重要。还应认识到并适当支持因健康需求而可能需要在学业上花费更多精力和时间的孩子。
