Abstract:

Throughout history, certain models of rehabilitation have been developed, that relate to the integration of people with mild or severe disabilities into society. Integration of people with disabilities in the social environment differed, taking into account the representation of certain models of rehabilitation, as well as with regard to socio - cultural context. The aim of this paper is to show the role of the model of rehabilitation during the creation of inclusive practices today with review to the Croatian educatioal system. During the sixties of the 20th century, medical model prevailed, whereby the person with disabilities was treated as a social problem. By the turn of of the seventies and eighties of the last century, there was a deficiency model as a transition from the medical to a social model, which has done a remarkable shift in the rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. Unlike the medical model in which disabled people were accepted as problematic persons who presented a problem for society, the social model emphasizes the role and attitude of society towards people with disabilities, as well as the focus on the preparation of the social environment of acceptance of disabled people. The aim of the social model is to include persons with difficulties, not only in broader social enviorment, but also in narrower educational environment. Since the educational inclusion emerges as a model that expands and deepens the integration model of people with special needs in society and regular schools, this paper will provide an overview of the history of the relationship between society towards people with disabilities, with emphasis on rehabilitation models and their role in creation of today's inclusive practice in educational context. Since the fundamental human right is the right to education, qualitative application of inclusive education assumes and requires changes in educational policy and practice such as implementation of new methods and forms in work with people with special educational needs.

Keywords:

Medical model, social model, integration, inclusion, inclusive education.