In January 2008 with the introduction of the Decree-L aw n.º3/2008, Portugal became the first country implementing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, ICF (WHO, 2001) as a framework to be obligatorily used in special education system. This policy was responsible for the introduction of substantial changes among which the ICF implementation to support the assessment and eligibility processes represented the major challenge for educational professionals

Alves, Sílvia

Sanches-Ferreira, Manuela

Silveira-Maia, Mónica

Simeonsson, Rune J.

English

Scientific Repository of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto

Implementation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in Portuguese Special Education Policy and Practice

Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico do Porto

Author(s):Manuela Sanches-Ferreira, Rune J. Simeonsson, Sílvia Alves (presenting), Mónica Silveira-MaiaConference:ECER 2013, Creativity and Innovation in Educational ResearchNetwork:04. Inclusive EducationFormat:PaperSession Information04 SES 05 B, LabellingPaper SessionTime:2013-09-1111:00-12:30Room:D-501Chair:Susanne SchwabContributionImplementation of the International Classification of Functioning,Disability and Health (ICF) in Portuguese Special Education Policy andPracticeIn January 2008 with the introduction of the Decree-L aw n.º3/2008, Portugal became the first countryimplementing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, ICF (WHO, 2001) as aframework to be obligatorily used in special education system. This policy was responsible for theintroduction of substantial changes among which the ICF implementation to support the assessment andeligibility processes represented the major challenge for educational professionals.The ICF framework emerges in the legislation as an organizing information system supporting descriptionsthat are not only restricted to the documentation of the negative aspects of disability, but also the mapping ofthe positive attributes of functioning related to key environmental factors (Silveira-Maia & Lopes-dos-Santos,2010). Based on this assumption, professionals are asked to guide the assessment process using the ICFconceptual framework and taxonomy, by selecting ICF categories related to students? functioning that shouldbe assessed. From this process, professionals must report the assessment information producing a student?functioning profile that should reflect ICF multidimensional properties, describing the interaction of differentcomponents of human functioning ? body functions and structures, activities and participation andenvironmental factors. The produced functioning profile would basis the eligibility decision-making, whichcurrent criteria is also framed into the ICF taxonomy. The target group for special education services isdefined as: ?students with significant limitations in terms of activity and participation in one or more areas inlife due to permanent functional and structural issues, which result in continued difficulty in terms ofcommunication, learning, mobility, autonomy, interpersonal relationships and social involvement? (EuropeanAgency for Development in Special Needs Education, 2009).EERA: Implementation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in Portuguese Special Education Policy and Practice1These changes revealed a great effort to adopt a common language to base the eligibility decision-making andto replace traditional dichotomy approaches ? disabled and not disabled ? by using a continuum of functioningdescriptions. This is seen as a step forward to ensure more equitable criteria in deciding the resources?allocation within special education services(Simeonsson, 2009).Due to the changes introduced, the Portuguese Ministry of Education commissioned a two-year researchproject (2009-2010) with the overall aim to evaluate the national implementation of the Decree-Lawn.º3/2008, namely, the ICF use (Sanches-Ferreira et al., 2010; 2012). For that, a multimethod research wasconducted using: (1) case studies ? a documental analysis of students? assessment and eligibility processes;(2) focus groups ? to assess the perceptions and experiences of parents, teachers and other educationalprofessionals regarding the decree law n.º3/2008 implementation; (3) and a questionnaire to examine how andfrom what depends the successfully implementation of innovations comprised in the Decree-Law.This paper is part of that national research project and aims to explore how the ICF is being implemented inorder to inform the policy system about needed improvements in its use. This can be broken into the followingresearch questions:-          How has the ICF been supporting the eligibility process?-          How the biopsychosocial model operationalized by the ICF has been contributing for understandingstudents? needs?-          What constrains have been identified in the ICF use?MethodA nationally representative sample was used in each method procedure. To carry out the documental analysisof the assessment and eligibility processes, 237 processes ? composed by a total of 477 documents ? wereexamined. The detailed description of documental analysis can be found in Sanches-Ferreira et al. (2012).Parents, special education and regular teachers and other educational staff opinion about the decree-lawimplementation, in particular, about the ICF use, was explored in 33 focus group meetings, attended by 220participants. The questionnaire - designed in the basis of the two previous methods - was completed by 577participants (educational staff). In order to achieve our goals we analysed students? functioning profilescollected in case studies. This implied the registration of all codes and qualifiers embodying the descriptionsof the students? functioning profiles. We also analysed, through a content analysis, answers provided in focusgroups to the following open-question: ?What your opinion about the use of the ICF framework on theassessment and eligibility processes??. In questionnaire, data gathered with questions concerning theperceived ease on the ICF-CY use and factors contributing for that, were explored.Expected OutcomesResults from documental analysis showed that the ICF use in the eligibility process allowed the differentiationof eligible and non-eligible students for the provision of special education services based on their functioningprofiles (Sanches-Ferreira et al., 2012). Eligible students registered within their functioning profiles higherseverity in categories addressing activities and participation and body functions components than non-eligiblestudents. The multidimensional approach comprised in ICF contributed, in the opinion of most of participantsin focus groups, for a better comprehension of students? needs. Consistently, the results from documentalEERA: Implementation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in Portuguese Special Education Policy and Practice2analysis confirmed that the ICF multidimensional properties have been applied in students? functioningprofiles which contain descriptions about the three ICF components. The component activities andparticipation receives high attention from teachers, being the ICF component most represented in functioningprofiles. The criticisms regarding ICF were related to technical difficulties: qualifiers attribution; selection ofcodes in terms of body functions; selection of the most suitable codes matching characteristics to describe. Asshown in focus groups and in questionnaires these difficulties exist due to the lack of professionals?collaboration to assess and describe information regarding body functions and also to the lack of appropriateassessment measures and training in the ICF use.ReferencesEuropean Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. Identification of special educational needs ?Portugal. 2009. Retrieved from:http://www.european-agency.org/country-information/portugal/national-overview/identification-of-special-educational-needsDecreto-Lei n.º 3/2008 (Decree-Law 3/2008). Ministério da Educação. Diário da República ? Série n.º 4 ? 7de Janeiro de 2008, pp. 154?164. Sanches-Ferreira, M., Simeonsson, R., Silveira-Maia, M., Alves, S.,Tavares, A., & Pinheiro, S. (2012). Portugal?s special education law: implementing the ICF in policy andpractice. Disability & Rehabilitation. Advance online publication (August, 13).doi:10.3109/09638288.2012.708816 Sanches-Ferreira, M., Simeonsson, R., Maia, M., Pinheiro, S., Tavares,A., & Alves, S. (2010). Projecto da Avaliação Externa da Implementação do Decreto-Lei n.º 3/2008:Relatório Final. Lisboa: Direcção-Geral de Inovação e de Desenvolvimento Curricular. Available in:http://www.dgidc.min-edu.pt/educacaoespecial/data/ensinoespecial/estudo_simeonsson.pdf Silveira-Maia, M.& Lopes-dos-Santos, P. (2010). Práticas em Educação Especial à Luz do Modelo Biopsicossocial: O Uso daCIF-CJ como Referencial na Elaboração dos Programas Educativos Individuais. Actas do VII SimpósioNacional de Investigação em Psicologia, Minho. Simeonsson, R. J. (2009). ICF-CY: a universal tool fordocumentation of disability. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 6(2), 70-72. WorldHealth Organization. (2001). International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Geneva:World Health Organization.Author InformationManuela Sanches-FerreiraSchool of Education, Polytechnic Institute of PortoSpecial EducationPortoRune J. SimeonssonUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel HillSílvia Alves (presenting)School of Education of Polytechnic Institute of PortoEERA: Implementation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in Portuguese Special Education Policy and Practice3Special EducationPortoMónica Silveira-MaiaSchool of Education, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, PortugalEERA: Implementation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in Portuguese Special Education Policy and Practice4

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Implementation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in Portuguese Special Education Policy and Practice

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