Discussion: developmental disability

In the video above, we have seen our case study character Mai face challenges in her everyday life as a result of her impairment and its interaction with barriers in her environment. By being creative and recognising the individual needs of Mai, her teacher and classmates helped support her to participate more actively in everyday life.

Now it’s time to think about children with developmental disabilities in your setting.

• What environmental barriers may children with developmental disabilities face in everyday life? Think about the environmental barriers, informational barriers and attitudinal barriers discussed by Professor Tom Shakespeare in the previous step.
• What would help children with developmental disabilities overcome these barriers and allow them to participate on an equal basis with non-disabled peers?