Parents' Perspectives on the Closure of a Special School: Towards inclusion in partnership

Abstract

This study reports parents' reflections on their experiences during the reorganisation following an English local education authority's (LEA) adoption of a policy of inclusion for young disabled people. It shows the parents' changing notions of 'partnership' with the LEA and their attempts to make sense of what policy-makers are telling them in the light of their own knowledge of their children's educational needs. Implications from the research are drawn to inform policy and practice in relation to the inclusion of young disabled people and partnership with parents.