Nedra El Fani, N/A, MD
Assistant Doctor
IBN AL Jazzar University Hospital Kairouan
sousse, Sousse, Tunisia
The aim of our study is to assess the prevalence of school attendance in children suffering from disabilities
Design:
Methods :
It is a quantitative descriptive study carried out among children with specifial needs who participated in a health caravan organized by a team of physical physicians, which took place over one day in an outlying hospital .We studied demographic information, clinical and educational status.
Data were collected using a pre-established form
Results:
Results :
Fifty children were evaluated, 52%of whom were females. The mean age was 8.36±5.4 years. Only 58.3% of children were exclusively breastfed.
The 2 most common pathologies were mental retardation and trisomy 21 (20%), followed by congenital deafness (16%) and cerebral palsy(12%). Only 5 children with hearing difficulties had cochlear implants.
Fourty percent of these children didn’t attend school . Geographical remoteness is the main reason of school non attendance(80%). All the patients didn’t have social activities
Conclusions:
Despite the call for equal education, children with special needs experience difficulties and face persistent barriers to education.
Barriers to education for these children are of different nature and thus require a global approach mainly in terms of access to school.
