It is apparent that disability is a significant means of “social differentiation in modern societies” (Barton, 1996, p. 13). Thus, it is salient to recognise that the definitions and models of disability used in society reflect how disability and disabled people are perceived within that society. Griffin and Shevlin, (2007, p. 14) assert that the labels attributed “to individuals and groups reflect their relative position within society”. Until the 1970s the medical/individual model of disability dominated how disability was perceived. This definition turned a description of a condition into a description of an individual. This model of disability was often the only one used in policy documents resulting in individualised supports and provisions for disabled people. The social model of disability was developed in opposition to the individual/medical model and was concerned with the societal barriers that are imposed on disabled people. Until recently, in Ireland, as in many other European countries, the educational provision for disabled young people occurred primarily within the special education system. This type of provision led to baseless assumptions about their learning capabilities and implied that as a result of their impairment they inevitably had more apparent learning needs than their peers (Griffin & Shevlin, 2007). In mainstream society, the visibility of disabled people has increased significantly in recent decades and this change is reflected within the Irish education system where, since the 1990s the numbers of students with various disabilities entering mainstream education has increased substantially. While the mainstreaming of children with various disabilities is now the norm “nowhere in the literature of disability is the discourse of ‘special’ so dominant as in education” (Adams, 2003, p. 125). Thomas and Loxley (2001, p. 89) assert that “The social categorization of children and young adults as somehow being ‘special’ is constructed in and legitimized through the kind of policies which ‘speak’ about them”. Furthermore, Finkelstein and Stuart (1996, p. 172) purport that “the common in the lives of disabled people is perceived as special in the lives of non-disabled people” because of “the absence of disabled people’s real impact on the way society is structured” (ibid). It is argued that the official history of the crucial elements of legislation, policy, practice and provision that shaped the education of young vision impaired people tells us little of their experiences (French, & Swain, 2006). Furthermore, they are of the opinion that insider perspectives from the past and present are imperative if inclusive educational policy and practice for vision impaired people is to succeed. In recent decades’ special education has undergone substantial changes in Ireland. This has been influenced by “international demands for a more equitable education system that recognises diversity and considers how schools might address the needs of pupils who have been previously marginalised” (Rose, Shevlin, Winter, & O’Raw, 2010, p. 359). In order that this is achieved to its maximum it is paramount to promote the active involvement of disabled young people at all levels of the research process as they are the experts in their own lives and should play an integral part in the changing landscape of the education system.

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