Educational options, difficulties, and barriers for vision, hearing, and mobility impaired persons living in Bangkok

Abstract

Abstract Widening educational inequality can easily be made by dismissing the problem holistically and not noticing diversity among each group of disabled people. This research aims to strive for an in-depth understanding of the entire educational experiences in integrated education and the significance of education for disabled people, through the voice of the vision, hearing, and mobility impaired living in Bangkok, Thailand. The research aims to answer the following objectives: (i) factors related to Thai parents’ decision-making in choosing the type of school for their disabled children; (ii) problems occurring in the Thai integrated educational system for vision, hearing, and mobility impaired students regarding challenges, obstacles in certain subjects, and negative social attitudes that pertain to education; (iii) perceptions on what the Thai education system lacks; and (iv) importance of education in the lives of disabled Thai people. A variety of ethnographic methodology, namely, participant observation, in-depth interviews, and focus group interviews were employed in order to capture the relevant and repeated emerging themes of the findings.