FINALLY, IN OSIJEK (1955–1990): THE OPENING AND OPERATION OF A SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

Abstract

This is a literature and archive research-based study about a school for children with developmental disabilities in Osijek. The authors reflect on the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, when the first foundations and schools for children with developmental disabilities began to emerge in the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia. In the post-war period of the Second Yugoslav State, the inclusion of children with disabilities in the school system finally occurred in 1955. Initially established as a practice school of the Teachers’ College, in September 1963, it transformed into the Dr. Zlatan Sremec Elementary School. They follow the school’s curriculum, extracurricular activities, the integration of children with disabilities into social activities, various events, and encounters with other schools of a similar nature. Through documentation preserved in the archives of today’s Ivan Štark Center for Education and Training in Osijek, insight is provided into the developmental journey of educational work with children with special needs. Changes in societal attitudes towards individuals with disabilities in the 1980s are noted as well, shifting from a charitable model to a model of educational inclusion.