Are students with intellectual disability more discriminated in physical education classes?

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to find out whether there are differences in attitudes towards students with disabilities depending on the type of disability in the subject of physical education. This is a descriptive-cross-sectional study involving 273 students aged between 12 and 16 from two public high schools. Each participant completed one of two questionnaires on attitudes towards visual disability (CAIPE-Vi) or intellectual disability (CAIPE-In). Subsequently, the results were analysed using the SPSS programme to determine possible correlations and significant differences between the variables. In general, most of the subjects showed favourable attitudes towards the inclusion of students with disabilities. However, visual disability was more accepted than intellectual disability (p < 0.05), and the type of disability showed to be significantly associated with students’ attitudes. These results suggest the need to carry out specific intervention programmes to better understand intellectual disability in order to avoid discrimination towards this group. Furthermore, girls showed more favourable attitudes towards inclusion than boys, as well as students who considered themselves more inclusive and less competitive. Age was also related to attitudes towards disability