Article

The purpose of this study is to review
the common elements of effective disability awareness interventions. METHODS: A
systematic review of disability awareness interventions for children and youth
was conducted to assess the effective components of these interventions.
Electronic searches were conducted using OVID, CENTRAL, PsychInfo, ERIC, Social
Science Citation Index, GreyNET Scopus and Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria
included (i) an intervention raising awareness about disability, (ii) school-age
children with the average age between 5-19 years old, (iii) at least one
measurable outcome focusing on knowledge about disability or attitudes towards
and/or acceptance of people with a disability and (iv) published article or grey
literature. RESULTS: Of the 1031 articles that were identified in the search, 42
met the criteria to be included in the review. We classified the disability
awareness interventions into 5 broad types including (i) social contact, (ii)
simulation, (iii) curriculum, (iv) multi-media curriculum and (v) multiple
components. Thirty-four studies showed an improvement in attitudes towards and/or
acceptance of peers with disabilities. Eight of these studies also demonstrated
an improvement in knowledge of people with disabilities. Five of the
interventions found no support for improving knowledge about, or acceptance of
people with disabilities. CONCLUSION: Disability awareness interventions can
successfully improve children's knowledge about and attitudes towards peers with
a disability; they should include several different components over multiple
sessions. RELEVANCE: These findings are being used to further develop disability
awareness interventions to help improve the social inclusion and participation of
children with disabilities within mainstream classrooms.

Langue : ANGLAIS