Parental Power and Special Educational Needs: the case of specific learning difficulties

Abstract

Research on parents of children with special educational needs has revealed their lack of power and the difficulty of establishing genuine partnership with professionals. This paper focuses on a predominantly middle‐class group, parents of children with specific learning difficulties. In the light of the Government's recent emphasis on parental rights, the paper explores what educational provision these parents want for their children, the strategies they employ to achieve their goals, the extent of their success and the implications of their actions for other parents of children with special educational needs. It is argued that parents of children with specific learning difficulties, well supported by voluntary organisations, are able to fulfil the role of critical consumer envisaged by government and have enjoyed a measure of success in arguing for improved levels of resourcing. Few would argue that services for children with specific learning difficulties are adequate. However, there are other groups of children with special educational needs, particularly those previously described as having mild/moderate learning difficulties, for whom provision may be worse and who do not have a powerful advocacy group to promote their cause.