Choosing the Right Educational Setting for a Child with a Disability

When a child is identified with a disability – particularly an intellectual disability – one of the most consequential decisions a family and a care team will face is: where should this child learn? The answer is rarely straightforward. It sits at the intersection of rights, resources, individual needs, and real-world constraints. Three core principles guide this decision: the ideal of inclusion, the requirement to match the child’s needs with appropriate support, and the practical realities that shape what is actually accessible for a given family. Understanding all three is essential to making a sound and fair placement decision.

Guiding principle 1: The inclusive environment as the starting point 🔗

The international consensus is clear – inclusion is the goal. UNICEF describes inclusive education as the most effective way to give all children a fair chance to go to school, learn, and develop the skills they need to thrive. In a truly inclusive school, all children learn together in the same classrooms, and the system adapts to meet diverse needs – rather than expecting the child to fit a rigid mould.

This principle is backed by international law. Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognises inclusive education as the preferred educational setting, a position echoed in domestic laws across many countries. The landmark 1994 UNESCO Salamanca Statement went further, calling on schools to accommodate all children regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic, or other conditions.

The evidence for inclusion goes beyond legal obligations. Research shows that children with disabilities who are educated in inclusive early childhood and school settings develop stronger social-emotional skills, better communication abilities, and greater academic gains than those in segregated settings. Brain development is most rapid in the first five years of life, which makes early inclusive experiences especially valuable. Meanwhile, students without disabilities in inclusive classrooms also benefit – they develop deeper empathy, stronger cooperative skills, and less prejudicial attitudes toward people who are different from them.

In practical terms, inclusive education means more than simply placing a child in a regular classroom. It requires that teaching, the curriculum, school buildings, classrooms, playgrounds, and transport are all appropriate for all children. This includes trained teachers, accessible learning materials, and physical modifications to school infrastructure where needed. Inclusion, in other words, is a whole-school commitment – not a token gesture.

The spectrum from inclusion to specialised settings 🔗

It is important to understand that educational placement is not a binary choice between a regular school and a special school. It exists on a spectrum. The concept of the “Least Restrictive Environment” (LRE), embedded in legislation across many jurisdictions, requires that children with disabilities be educated alongside their non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate. Removal from a regular classroom should only be considered when a child’s disability is of such a nature or severity that education in a regular class – even with supplementary aids and services – cannot be achieved satisfactorily.

This spectrum might include: a full-time regular classroom with in-class support, a regular school with part-time withdrawal for specialised instruction, a special class within a mainstream school, or a dedicated special school for children with significant and complex needs. Scholars have described this combined approach as “Inclusive Special Education” – a model that recognises most children can be educated in mainstream settings, while a relatively small number, such as those with moderate or severe intellectual disabilities, may benefit more from specialised environments, at least for some part of their schooling.

Guiding principle 2: Matching the child’s needs with the right level of support 🔗

Inclusive education is the ideal – but the ideal must be built on real capacity. A regular school that lacks trained teachers, appropriate materials, and support services is not truly inclusive, no matter what its policy says. The Learning Disabilities Association of America makes this point directly: placing a child in a regular classroom without the necessary support is as much a violation of their rights as placing all children in separate classrooms on the basis of disability label alone.

This is why the decision about educational placement must always begin with a thorough and individualised assessment of the child. The assessment should identify the child’s specific strengths, challenges, learning style, communication abilities, and behavioural needs. It must also determine what support and services – such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, behaviour support, or modified curriculum – the child will need to make meaningful progress. This assessment should be collaborative, drawing on input from teachers, special education professionals, parents, therapists, and, where appropriate, the child themselves. Crucially, it should not be a one-time event – children’s needs change as they grow, and placement decisions must be revisited regularly.

When a special school may be the more appropriate choice 🔗

For some children – particularly those with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities, complex communication needs, or significant behavioural challenges – a special school may currently offer more appropriate support than a regular school that is not yet prepared to meet those needs. A special school can offer smaller class sizes, teachers with specialised training, and a curriculum specifically designed around functional and life-skills development. For families who have experienced their child being rejected, bullied, or inadequately supported in mainstream settings, a special school can feel like – and often genuinely is – a safer and more nurturing environment.

Research with parents of children with intellectual disabilities reveals that dissatisfaction with the level of specialist teaching and resources in mainstream schools is a primary driver for choosing a special school. Some parents view special school placement as a temporary bridge – a setting where the child can develop skills that will later enable participation in more inclusive environments. This reflects an important insight: the goal of inclusion does not necessarily require immediate full-time placement in a mainstream school; it requires a pathway toward the highest possible level of participation over time.

The key question is not “which type of school is better in the abstract?” but rather: can this specific school, in its current state, meet this specific child’s needs? A well-resourced and supportive mainstream school with trained staff will almost always serve a child with a disability better than an under-resourced one. Equally, a high-quality special school that actively works to build a child’s skills and confidence, and that maintains links with mainstream settings, can be a legitimate and valuable part of an inclusive education system.

Other influencing factors: The real-world constraints families face 🔗

Even when families and educators agree on what the ideal setting looks like in theory, the final decision is shaped by a range of practical factors that are often beyond anyone’s control. These factors are not secondary considerations – for many families, they are decisive.

Availability of services in the region 🔗

Research across low- and middle-income countries consistently shows that children with disabilities in these settings are far less likely to access educational opportunities than their counterparts in wealthier nations. In many regions, there may simply be no well-resourced inclusive school nearby, and special schools may be concentrated in urban centres. Studies from countries like Bangladesh, Zambia, and Afghanistan document dramatic gaps in educational access for children with disabilities, driven largely by the absence of appropriate local services. This is not a family’s failure – it is a systemic gap that governments and policymakers must address.

Distance and transport 🔗

Transport is one of the most concrete and frequently overlooked barriers to education for children with disabilities. A study in rural Malawi found that almost half of children with disabilities and their caregivers reported difficulties getting to school, with walking being the only option for most families. For children with mobility limitations, this is not merely inconvenient – it is a direct barrier to attendance. Where special schools are available, they are often far from home. Research from South Africa documented cases where children with special needs had to travel 60 km or more to reach the nearest appropriate school – a daily reality that renders consistent attendance nearly impossible for many families.

Even in better-resourced settings, accessible and safe transport options for children with physical or intellectual disabilities are rarely guaranteed. The NCBI notes that segregated school systems incur significantly higher costs for transportation and infrastructure, sometimes estimated at seven to nine times the cost of inclusive models – yet these costs are often passed on, at least partially, to families.

Family financial resources 🔗

The financial burden on families of children with disabilities is substantial. Beyond school fees, families often face costs for assistive devices, therapy, transport, and specialised materials. In many low-income contexts, these costs are prohibitive. Education budgets in developing countries are often insufficient to cover the additional support children with disabilities require, which means families bear a disproportionate share of the cost. A family may prefer a more inclusive or more specialised setting but simply not be able to afford the transport, materials, or co-payments involved. Any honest placement decision must account for what is financially feasible for the family – and where possible, advocate for subsidies, transport provisions, or community-based support to bridge the gap.

The role of the Individualised Education Program (IEP) 🔗

Across all of these considerations, one tool remains central to good placement decisions: the Individualised Education Program (IEP). An IEP documents the child’s current functioning levels, educational goals, required services, and placement decisions, and it is developed collaboratively by the child’s teachers, parents, and other professionals. Critically, placement should only be decided after the IEP has been developed – not before. The IEP also establishes a process for periodic review, ensuring that the educational setting remains appropriate as the child grows and their needs evolve. There is no single best setting for all children – the best setting is the one that best supports the individual child in achieving the goals laid out in their IEP, within the constraints of what is realistically available.

Bringing it all together: A principled and practical approach 🔗

Choosing the right educational setting for a child with a disability is not a one-size-fits-all exercise. It starts with a firm commitment to the principle that every child deserves to learn alongside their peers in a community that values them. It continues with an honest assessment of what the child needs and what any given setting can actually provide. And it ends with a realistic reckoning with what transport, services, and finances make feasible for the family in question.

The World Bank’s framework for inclusive education emphasises that there is no single method for planning or implementing inclusion – context-specific barriers must be identified and addressed at every level, from classroom practices to national policy. For educators and families navigating this decision on the ground, the guiding question should always be: what setting will allow this child to make the most progress, feel the most supported, and move steadily toward the fullest participation in society that is possible for them? The answer to that question – not a default policy or a resource shortcut – is what should drive the decision.

What do you think? If a regular school in your area is not yet equipped to support a child with an intellectual disability, should that child wait for the system to improve – or should they be placed in a special school in the meantime? And how should families weigh a child’s right to inclusion against the very real limits of what is available and accessible to them?

References

1. https://www.unicef.org/education/inclusive-education
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554622/
3. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373662
4. https://www.unicef.org/eca/sites/unicef.org.eca/files/IE_summary_accessible_220917_brief.pdf
5. https://www.doe.virginia.gov/programs-services/special-education/iep-instruction/inclusive-practices
6. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10889469/
7. https://ldaamerica.org/core-principles-full-inclusion-of-all-students-with-learning-disabilities/
8. https://www.winssolutions.org/integrating-children-with-disabilities/
9. https://www.mentalhealth.com/library/educational-settings-mainstreaming-pros-cons
10. https://nasenjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1471-3802.70032
11. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10824976/
12. https://theirworld.org/resources/children-with-disabilities/
13. https://ajod.org/index.php/ajod/article/view/981/2056
14. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11736512/
15. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education/brief/inclusive-education