Iranian Adolescents With Physical-Motor Disabilities: Needs and Problems in Education and Employment

Objectives: The needs and problems of students with physical-motor disabilities should be properly identified in order to solve them. The main purpose of this research was to determine the needs and problems of Iranian male students with physical-motor disabilities in the education and employment dimensions.  Methods: This was a descriptive study. All the male students with physical-motor disabilities were selected from the special high schools of Tehran, Iran, in the year 2013-14 as a statistical research community. Of all, only 150 male students with physical-motor disabilities were chosen by convenience sampling method. An edited version of the questionnaire from a previous study on the needs and problems of girls and women was used for this study.  Results: According to our results, the main needs of the students in the employment dimension include transportation services, specific training courses, and quotas for employment. However, the main problems in the employment dimension include displacement and transportation problems, and lack of policy enforcement. Similarly, the priority needs in the education dimension include community education and professional training, whereas the priority problems include displacement and transportation problems.  Discussion: The results of this study indicated a variety of problems and needs of the Iranian students with physical-motor disabilities, indicating the requirement of planning and policies to address them.