Visible, Diverse and United:

Breakout Session #3: Parents with Disabilities and Their Child's Center and/or School System

Bay Area Task Force participants reiterated a frequent complaint of parents with disabilities nationally: they are excluded from active participation in their children's center and/or school life. Typically, because the majority of children of disabled parents are not disabled, center and/or school administrators and teachers are unaware of or insensitive to the needs of parents with diverse disabilities. This can be to a number of factors: the physical inaccessibility of the center and/or school (e.g., inaccessible sites for a parent-teacher meeting or other center and/or school activities that other parents attend); inaccessible communication modes (e.g., no interpreters for Deaf parents or inaccessible media for parents who are blind); assumptions about parents helping their children with homework if the materials are not in accessible formats. Further, because of a lack of education or familiarity with diverse disabilities, center and/or school officials may make inaccurate or negative assumptions about the capabilities of parents with disabilities.

Specific Problems

• Parents with disabilities do not know what their rights are with regard to their children's centers and/or schools.



• Center and/or school systems do not know what their legal obligations are with regard to parents with disabilities.



• Center and/or school administrators and teachers often do not know if any of their children's parents have disabilities or are Deaf.



• Inaccessible or inappropriate communication from center and/or school personnel in-person, by phone or written communication (e.g., no interpreters, inaccessible formats for written materials, linguistically difficult information for parents with intellectual disabilities).



• Information from the centers and/or schools is often not sent in a timely manner (i.e., a parent may need several days notice in order to arrange transportation or get materials Brailled).



• Even centers and/or schools that have classrooms/programs for children with disabilities may not consider the perspectives or needs of adults with disabilities or that they can be parents.



• If there are multiple children in the family or if the child changes centers and/or schools, navigating different centers and/or schools, or different school districts can be challenging.



• Although most centers and/or schools include curricula on diverse ethnicities and languages, few centers and/or schools address disabilities unless the focus is on children with disabilities.



• Deaf parents particularly noted that teachers inappropriately use their hearing children to interpret conversations between teachers and parents. Other parents with disabilities described center and/or school personnel who are visibly uncomfortable, paternalistic or insensitive when talking with them.



• Several parents with disabilities expressed considerable frustration and difficulty getting their children's special needs determined or accommodated. This is partly a result of overworked center and/or school staff.

Possible solutions

• Parents with disabilities need to become more visible and more active in their children's centers and/or schools: offer to do classroom presentations; get involved with the PTA; explain the particular accommodations or access needed to center and/or school personnel; demystify and normalize disability.



• Educate center and/or school systems as to their legal obligations to provide accommodations and access for parents with disabilities. Consolidate and summarize the rights to accommodations and access on a website so that parents with disabilities can provide this information to their child's center and/or school.



• Educate center and/or school personnel about options for communicating with people with disabilities (e.g., relay services, email, text-messaging, large Print) as well as sensitivity to diverse disabilities. Consolidate and summarize these options on a website so that parents with disabilities can provide this information to their child's center and/or school.



• Teacher training and continuing education programs should include information regarding working with parents with disabilities.



• Centers and/or schools should include curricula on disabilities, including parenting with a disability. Invite parents with disabilities to classroom presentations.



• If applicable to a particular disability, parents should request that center and/or school materials distributed to parents be sent ahead of time so that the parent can arrange for particular accommodations rather than relying upon others for assistance.



• Work more from the top down: Learn where the funding is going. Educate lawmakers and administrators.



• Regarding dealing with centers and/or schools of children with disabilities:
• Parents should demand that their children get tested early for learning differences.



• Make center and/or school personnel aware that a child can have more than one disability. For example, if a child is diagnosed with a cognitive impairment, other disabilities (such as learning disabilities) should not be discarded.



• Teach children to become their own advocates; have children attend their own IEPs.

• Introduction and Featured Presentations


• Overall Recommendations
• Breakout Sessions
1. Breakout Session #1: Parental Rights
2. Breakout Session #2: Recreation
3. Breakout Session #4: Transportation
4. Breakout Session #5: Programming and Systems Change