TY - JOUR
T1 - Advocacy for Children With Social-Communication Needs
T2 - Perspectives From Parents and School Professionals
AU - Burke, Meghan Maureen
AU - Meadan-Kaplansky, Hedda
AU - Patton, Kimberly A.
AU - Pearson, Jamie N.
AU - Cummings, Katrina P.
AU - Lee, Chung eun
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2017.
PY - 2018/2/1
Y1 - 2018/2/1
N2 - Although parents of children with disabilities often advocate for special education services, most research has only examined advocacy from the perspectives of parents. Given that advocacy is an interpersonal exchange, it is crucial to understand the perspectives of parents and school professionals. In this study, focus groups were conducted with 47 parents of children with disabilities and school professionals (i.e., special education teachers and speech language pathologists) regarding how parents advocate for supports, desired social-communication supports, the impact of advocacy, and the perceptions of school professionals toward advocacy. Parents and school professionals reported similar advocacy strategies and desired social-communication supports. Parents and professionals also reported that advocacy can yield positive outcomes for children with disabilities. However, parents reported that some school professionals negatively perceived parent advocacy and that parent advocacy can yield negative outcomes, whereas school professionals reported positively perceiving parent advocacy. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
AB - Although parents of children with disabilities often advocate for special education services, most research has only examined advocacy from the perspectives of parents. Given that advocacy is an interpersonal exchange, it is crucial to understand the perspectives of parents and school professionals. In this study, focus groups were conducted with 47 parents of children with disabilities and school professionals (i.e., special education teachers and speech language pathologists) regarding how parents advocate for supports, desired social-communication supports, the impact of advocacy, and the perceptions of school professionals toward advocacy. Parents and school professionals reported similar advocacy strategies and desired social-communication supports. Parents and professionals also reported that advocacy can yield positive outcomes for children with disabilities. However, parents reported that some school professionals negatively perceived parent advocacy and that parent advocacy can yield negative outcomes, whereas school professionals reported positively perceiving parent advocacy. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
KW - advocacy
KW - family–school partnership
KW - services
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U2 - 10.1177/0022466917716898
DO - 10.1177/0022466917716898
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85040695735
SN - 0022-4669
VL - 51
SP - 191
EP - 200
JO - Journal of Special Education
JF - Journal of Special Education
IS - 4
ER -