PARENT PERCEPTIONS OF INCLUSIVE PRACTICES FOR THEIR CHILDREN WITH SIGNIFICANT COGNITIVE DISABILITIES

While there has been a recent trend toward inclusive educational place ments for students with significant cognitive disabilities, little inf ormation exists regarding parent perceptions of such practices. This a rticle reviews the construction and analysis of a scale designed to en courage research in this area. An examination of three dimensions of p erceptions assessed by the scale found that parents were more positive regarding the impact of inclusion on mutual social benefits, acceptan ce, and treatment of their child and more apprehensive regarding the i mpact of inclusion on the quality of educational services their child receives. Discussion includes how these findings may offer insight int o reasoning used by some parents when considering the benefits of more inclusive educational placements for their own children.