The route to ‘inclusive counselling’: counsellors' perceptions of disability inclusion in Turkey.

The present research highlights new challenges and opportunities faced by counsellors in relation to the movement to include students with disabilities within mainstream schools launched by the Ministry of Education in Turkey. The main purpose of the study was to examine perceptions of counsellors in relation to this movement. Interviews were conducted with 12 counsellors working in public schools and in guidance and research centres. Data were collected through interviews which included open-ended questions. Findings from the thematic analysis of the interview transcripts suggested that: (a) counsellors held positive attitudes towards students with disabilities and the attempts to include them through counselling services; (b) understandings of disability were largely based on the deficiency model and difficulties; and (c) counsellors perceived that there were inherent problems in the translation of conceptual and methodological knowledge into practices. Findings of this study might be used to guide policy makers and inform training literature that can help counselling practices be more supportive of disability inclusion in schools.