THE INTEGRATION OF STUDENTS WITH SEVERE OR PROFOUND DISABILITIES FROM SEGREGATED SCHOOLS INTO REGULAR PUBLIC-SCHOOLS - AN ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN PARENT PERCEPTIONS

Parents of children with severe or profound disabilities who had been served in segregated school settings in Kentucky were interviewed prior to and following the placement of their children in integrated school settings. Using the questionnaire developed by McDonnell (1987) as a basis for the interviews, the parents were asked to predict and later to report mistreatment by nondisabled peers, isolation within the school, and loss of services. In addition, they were asked to rate their satisfaction with the segregated versus the integrated program. The results indicate that parents' perceptions of integration change when their children are placed in integrated school settings. While the change was positive for the most part in the present study, results indicate that the type of change is dependent on the quality of the program and that integration along does not ensure program quality.