Towards the fulfillment of the right to inclusive education for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Framework for action

Abstract

Since the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was passed (2006), inclusive education evolved from a principle of education towards a right to be guaranteed for all students. Despite this, students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have not enjoyed this right on an equal foot with others, experiencing a stagnation in their inclusion over the last 15 years. Moreover, there is an important gap between the policies passed at national, regional, and local levels aimed at including these students, and the educational experiences that they are currently receiving within education systems. To address this mismatch and to provide educators with a framework for action that shortens what is current education of students with IDD and what should be, the purpose of this work is to present the conceptual and practical implications of the supports paradigm and the quality of life model, two frameworks that have now join together and that offer a systematic approach to address the access, participation, learning, and development of students with IDD to their fullest potential, the necessary goals of an inclusive and quality education.