Portugal's special education law: implementing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health in policy and practice.
OBJECTIVE
The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) was introduced in Portuguese education law as the compulsory system to guide eligibility policy and practice in special education. This paper describes the implementation of the ICF and its utility in the assessment process and eligibility determination of students for special education.


METHODS
A study to evaluate the utility of the ICF was commissioned by the Portuguese Ministry of Education and carried out by an external evaluation team. A document analysis was made of the assessment and eligibility processes of 237 students, selected from a nationally representative sample.


RESULTS
The results provided support for the use of the ICF in student assessment and in the multidimensional approach of generating student functioning profiles as the basis for determining eligibility. The use of the ICF contributed to the differentiation of eligible and non eligible students based on their functioning profiles.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings demonstrate the applicability of the ICF framework and classification system for determining eligibility for special education services on the basis of student functioning rather than medical or psychological diagnose.


CONCLUSIONS
The use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework in special education policy is as follows: • The functional perspective of the ICF offers a more comprehensive, holistic assessment of student needs than medical diagnoses. • ICF-based assessment of the nature and severity of functioning can serve as the basis for determining eligibility for special education and habilitation. • Profiles of functioning can support decision making in designing appropriate educational interventions for students.
Special Education Department, School of Education, Porto Polytechnic, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 602, Porto, 4200-465 Portugal. manuelaferreira@ese.ipp.pt
Manuela
M
Sanches-Ferreira
Rune J
RJ
Simeonsson
Mónica
M
Silveira-Maia
Sílvia
S
Alves
Ana
A
Tavares
Sara
S
Pinheiro
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000145:classification* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004519:Education, Special / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods*; D004608:Eligibility Determination; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D057766:Policy; D011174:Portugal; D013334:Students