Guidelines for the Healthy Integration of the Ill Child in the Educational System: Experience from Israel

Learning deficiencies experienced by chronically sick children have been a source for research in the field of child psychology and the field of neuro-psychology, but in the field of education, they have received only secondary attention. In addition to which, on the issue of the sick child’s adaptation to the disease, insufficient importance was paid to the educational system, and only in a very few research projects which measured such adaptation to the disease were the teachers consulted. The source for the idea of writing this book came from a belief that the work of the educationist contributes greatly in advancing the treatment of the sick child. Since treatment and recovery continue for months even years, the educational framework with all its components has a great effect on the process of rehabilitation, and there are claims that successful integration into the school is a decisive factor in rehabilitation and recovery, precisely as is the medical treatment. Moreover, correct support received by the parent and the sick child, when the child returns to the community and to the school, is a measure of his good adaptation in the future.