Necessary forms of inclusion support for persons with cerebral palsy, hearing impairment and other associated difficulties

Abstract

Persons with cerebral palsy, hearing impairment and other associated difficulties need various forms of support. Support for these persons is inadequate, both due to the insufficient number of services provided by the system and largely due to the poor socio-economic status of these persons. The consequence of insufficient support, especially in the early period, is inadequate education and rehabilitation, which ultimately affects the social inclusion of these persons. The aim of the study is to examine the necessary types of support for persons with cerebral palsy, hearing impairment and other associated difficulties and to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference in the representation of the required types of support between cantons. The study was conducted on a sample of 120 respondents, persons with cerebral palsy, hearing impairment and other associated difficulties from four cantons of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each canton consisted of one subsample of respondents. The results of the study showed that in addition to the existing support, 7.66% of persons with cerebral, hearing impairment and other associated difficulties need additional forms of support. Additional types of support mentioned by the respondents are: physical therapy (27.50%), more treatments (5.83%), professional help (5.00%), special education help (2.50%), school assistant help (3.33%), socialization (1.66%), all forms of support (8.33%), help from a speech therapist (11.66%), help from a psychologist (5.83%) and more socializing (5.00%). Respondents from all cantons need all these types of support and there is no statistically significant difference between cantons.