Integrating Children with Special Needs in Regular Schools: A Survey Study of Integration Programs in Saudi Arabia  / Sahar A. Alkhashrami

The past few years have witnessed increasing efforts in applying modern education strategies in the field of special education. The integration of children with special needs in regular schools has been the most significant development. Saudi Arabia has benefited from international experiences in this regard. This study aims at exploring the applications of integration programs in regular schools in Saudi Arabia, evaluation of the level of success achieved during the introduction of integration in Saudi school, and providing appropriate recommendations. A survey was conducted on all government and private schools that apply integration. A questionnaire was designed for collecting data of the study and distributed to all special education supervisors in integrated schools. The study findings show increasing number of schools implementing integration, especially with governmemt schools. All types of special needs have benefited from the integration programs, especially those children with mild special needs. The study shows that boys schools were well in advance compared with girls schools. Finally the study identified difficulties facing integration and a number of recommendations were suggested.