Parent’s Satisfaction with Special need Education for their Language Impaired Children: A Comparison between Inclusive vs. Segregated Schools in Germany

Special need education in Germany is a highly controversial topic as many favor segregated schools despite the recent UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. A survey was conducted with 542 parents having a child with language impairment that is either enrolled in a special need school or in an integrative elementary school setting. Results indicate equally high parental satisfaction in both systems. Further analyses, however, demonstrate higher perceived stigmatization of children in the segregated compared to the integrative setting; more optimistic view in parents who are enrolled in integrative schools regarding language improvement, career options, and social participation. Further results reveal unexpected discrimination of some families in respecting their individual choices for a school setting they believe in. Results are discussed with respect to the importance of parental choice and the need for further empirical investigation on pedagogic strategies that really work for language impaired children.