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• • Parent-Educator Partnerships in Special Education Services Provision: A Thematic Exploration of Challenges Faced by Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families

  • Among its many provisions, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) stipulates that educators and parents work together to improve the quality of education for children with disabilities. This study explores the cultural understandings of the concepts of disability and special education among ten culturally and linguistically diverse families. The importance and relevance of examining these families’ understanding to gain insight on how such influence their involvement in the education of their children with disabilities. Data was collected through interviews, field notes, and document reviews. Grounded theory techniques were used to conduct an inductive analysis of the qualitative data. The findings reflected an array of families’ cultural perspectives when working with educators and service providers, navigating the special education system. Further, families raised concerned about the red tape involved in accessing special education services and the lack of humanity when interacting with service providers.

• • Authenticating disability perspectives and advancing inclusive agendas that value disability identity in schools

  • Inclusive programming has traditionally been framed through a medical model with an orientation that is concerned about young people with disabilities functioning aptitudes relative to developmental normative standards. As a result, children and youth with disabilities often experience school and community predominantly through intervention services. This study accesses the narratives of two young men with autism spectrum having experienced separate intervention services delivered outside the regular classroom when attending public school in Nova Scotia, Canada. This research is part of a larger project that explored twelve young men with AS experiences in public school. Their in-depth narratives reveal the importance of authenticating disability voice and locating more meaningful forms of inclusion beyond tiered intervention practices to prevent exclusion and ableist assumptions about their identities.