Autism and the right to education in the EU: Policy mapping and scoping review of the United Kingdom, France, Poland and Spain
Abstract
Introduction: Autistic people may have different educational needs that need to be met to allow them to develop their full potential. Education and disability policies remain within the competence of EU Member States, with current educational standards and provisions for autistic people implemented locally. This scoping review aims to map EU and national special education policies with the goal of scoping the level of fulfilment of the right to education of autistic people.
Methods: Four EU countries (United Kingdom, France, Poland and Spain) were included in this scoping review study. Governmental policies in the field of education, special education needs and disability law were included. Path dependency framework was used for data analysis; a net of inter-dependencies between international, EU and national policies was created.
Results and discussion: Each country created policies where the right to free education without discrimination is provided. Poland does not have an autism specific strategy, whereas the United Kingdom, France and Spain have policies specifically designed for autistic individuals. Within the United Kingdom, all countries created different autism plans, nevertheless all aim to reach the same goal—inclusive education for autistic children that leads to the development of their full potential.
Conclusion: Policy-making across Europe in the field of education has been changing through the years in favour of autistic people. Today their rights are noticed and considered, but there is still room for improvement. Results showed that approaches and policies vastly differ between countries, more Member States should be analysed in a similar manner to gain a broader and clearer view with a special focus on disability rights in Central and Eastern Europe.
Keywords
Age groups
Autism
Autism spectrum disorder
Biology and life sciences
Children
Developmental neuroscience
Developmental psychology
Disabilities
Education
Europe
European Union
Families
France
Geographical locations
Law and legal sciences
Legislation
Medicine and health sciences
Neurodevelopmental disorders
Neurology
Neuroscience
People and places
Pervasive developmental disorders
Population groupings
Psychology
Public and occupational health
Research Article
Schools
Science policy
Social sciences
Sociology
United Kingdom
Origin | Publisher files allowed on an open archive |
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