The expert on my child: mothers’ views on educational needs

This article explores parental disempowerment when navigating special
educational needs within exclusionary systems in England. The study comprised
of three case studies of mothers of boys aged 5-7. This article will share data
from this study which includes narratives around mothers’ experiences of having
a child in school with challenging behaviours and special educational needs. The
mothers took part in semi structured interviews which were audio recorded and
transcribed prior to analysis.

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used, and key findings
revealed issues relating to parental disempowerment and how the language,
systems, and lack of collaboration between parents and school staff can lead to
parents feeling not heard and disempowered regarding their own children’s
education. The article contains recommendations on the need to promote parental voice and understanding to work collaboratively with schools towards better outcomes for children with challenging behaviour and special educational needs.