Abstract
The study focused on a Multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach to how learners with Spastic
Cerebral Palsy (SCP) in the adolescent phase experience social participation in school
communities. The caregivers involved in the study comprised parents, special needs educators,
and healthcare professionals (HCP). The objective of the study was to examine a
multidisciplinary approach to addressing the social development challenges faced by adolescent
learners with SCP. The study focused on emotional, economic, social, and physical stressors,
as well as the availability of support structures to facilitate social development. By means of
questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, qualitative data were collected from seven
participants in two separate Special Needs Education schools to provide a comprehensive
understanding of participants’ experiences of social support for learners with SCP. Thematic
content analysis was applied using ATLAS.ti software to code, identify categories and
repetitive themes in the data set based on understanding human behaviour, beliefs, and
perceptions. Four themes were identified: Firstly, Diagnosis and Therapy contributed to the
study by highlighting the benefits of health care support and training in educational systems in
special needs schools for caregivers of adolescent learners with SCP, while scrutinising the
long-term effects of parents’ mental illness on the emotional and social development of
adolescents and their siblings; Secondly, Emotional Well-being explored the effectiveness of
coping mechanisms for SCP learners and caregivers while investigating the lack of resources
for the self-care of parental caregivers, which highlighted the importance of individual or group
counselling in the social integration of SCP learners at SEN Schools; Thirdly, Learner
Autonomy explored the degree to which physical impairments influence the social identity of
SCP adolescent; and Fourthly, Social Dynamics highlighted a lack of infrastructural changes
and service delivery detrimental to personal care needs of people with disabilities in public
social settings.
The findings imply that the need exists for improvements in infrastructural developments in
small urban and rural communities, a more supportive approach to handling different family
and work dynamics, and the availability of resources and services to caregivers and adolescent
learners with SCP. In conclusion, the study brought to light the availability of healthcare
support for special needs schools, social identity development of learners with SCP and
addressed gaps in infrastructure and public service delivery.