Theoretical perspectives and childhood participation

The concept of participation is at the centre of the concerns of those occupied with issues of disability. Although commonly used, it is seldom well defined and is conceptualized in different ways by different authors. This paper explores participation by juxtaposing conceptual frameworks of disability and the results of a recent study of school participation of disabled children. We start by outlining important conceptual frameworks in understanding disability, such as the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and social perspectives. We then present the study results which reveal participation as a complex interaction between the child and his or her environment where individual aspects interact with contextual requirements of different school settings. Viewed from the findings of this study none of the theoretical perspectives considered entails the level of complexity that is necessary to understand all the aspects of participation of the disabled children in their school environment.