DISABILITY VOICE - EDUCATIONAL-EXPERIENCE AND DISABILITY

Lightly structured, in-depth interviews of 30 adults with disabilities and parents of disabled children, probing their educational experienc es, yielded rich autobiographical data. The interview transcripts were analysed in terms of the significant patterns of experience which eme rged. That particular experiences were shared was clear from frequency of mention, and our claim that these were significant experiences is based on both their subjective intensity and on their impact on the li ves of our respondents. In this paper we discuss the most widely share d of these school and post-school experiences and the educational opin ions they have generated. We include illuminitive extracts from a smal l number of the interviews. Finally, we draw some general conclusions supporting the need for educational change towards a more enabling edu cation.