Family-Professional Partnerships With Refugee Families of Children With Disabilities

Haines, Shana J.; Francis, G.; Kyzar, Kathleen; Aldersey, Heather Michelle; Adams, Nicole B.

doi:10.1016/bs.irrdd.2018.07.002

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Educational research on refugee families has found that there exists a perception that non-English speaking families are unable to support their children's schooling because of their lack of English proficiency. This unfortunately leads to the family being blamed (Dryden-Peterson, 2015;Haines et al, 2015;Haines et al, 2018;McBrien, 2005;Olivos et al, 2010). We contemplate the original purpose of the study, which is to better understand the partnership between families with refugee experiences and schools, and we see a fundamental unfairness in the way that the partnership could be misconstrued to seem more beneficial for the family than for the school.…”

Section: Gogomentioning

confidence: 99%

“Your Eyes Open and so do Your Ears”: Centering Knowledge of Families with Refugee Backgrounds during a Follow-up Interview

Reyes

Haines

Ghising

et al. 2021

JFDE

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In an exploratory case study of partnerships between educators and refugee families recently resettled in the U.S, we conducted follow-up interviews with each of the ten participating families during year one. In this paper, we report on themes from these interviews highlighted in three family case studies. We used methodological approaches that enabled us to reenvision and interrogate the power structure inherent in research relationships between ‘researcher’ and ‘researched.” The purposes of the additional interview were to conduct a member check on the data we had gathered, understand what had changed since our initial interview with the family, and gather families’ feedback about our comportment and methods. The two-part question was, How might decolonizing methods from a postcolonial lens serve as guideposts for disrupting research methods with families with refugee backgrounds?, and How did partnering with transnational student researchers inform ways of representing the family narratives? The follow-up narratives suggest a complex understanding of building knowledge within the limitations of a conventional research paradigm.

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Section: Gogomentioning

confidence: 99%

“Your Eyes Open and so do Your Ears”: Centering Knowledge of Families with Refugee Backgrounds during a Follow-up Interview

Reyes

Haines

Ghising

et al. 2021

JFDE

Self Cite

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“…The lack of knowledge about how to promote effective parent–teacher partnerships is especially concerning in the context of Somali migrant parents of autistic children since they are likely to be confronted by multiple challenges; challenges which can lead to poor collaboration between home and school and a lack of confidence and trust in teachers (Azad et al, 2021; Lilley, 2019; McNerney et al, 2015). Some of these challenges are related to those faced by all migrant parents, such as language barriers, fewer social supports and unfamiliarity with education systems and teaching approaches (Haines et al, 2018; Jegathessan, 2009; Lai & Ishyama, 2004; Wang & Casillas, 2012). Somali parents are also likely to face barriers reported by other Black communities, and especially Black African communities, in largely white societies, including racism, stigmatisation and discrimination (Kediye et al, 2009).…”

Section: Parent–teacher Partnershipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Somali parents feel like they’re on the outer’: Somali mothers’ experiences of parent–teacher relationships for their autistic children

Smith

Rabba

Ali

et al. 2023

Autism

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Effective parent–teacher partnerships can improve outcomes for autistic students. Yet, we know little about what effective partnerships look like for parents of autistic children from diverse backgrounds. Using participatory methods, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 Somali mothers of autistic children attending Australian kindergartens/schools to understand experiences of parent–teacher interactions. We used reflexive thematic analysis to identify key themes. We found that mothers were proud and accepting of their children. They had high expectations, particularly around children’s independence. Mothers wished their children’s differences were understood and supported by other people, including teachers. They were frustrated by low expectations of children, a lack of genuine communication from teachers and limited autism-specific knowledge, skills and experience within schools. They described racist attitudes towards their children and reported that they themselves had experienced stigma. They also had few sources of support to rely upon, although their non-autistic daughters and their faith were important foundations for resilience. Despite all of these challenges, mothers themselves were increasing community awareness and knowledge about autism in the hope that they and their children would be valued by others. Our work has implications for how teachers and schools can foster successful relationships with Somali parents of autistic children. Lay abstract Good relationships between parents and schools can improve autistic children’s school success. There are many reasons why families from different cultural backgrounds find it harder to develop good relationships with schools, such as language barriers, discrimination and unfamiliarity with education systems. We know little about what ‘good relationships’ look like for these families. Here, we worked with a team of autistic and non-autistic researchers as well as an Advisory Group of Somali parents to conduct interviews with 15 Somali mothers of kindergarten and school-age autistic children. We asked mothers about their experiences of their child’s education, communication with teachers and what a good relationship with schools would look like. We also asked how they felt the Somali community understood autism. We looked for common things that mothers said. We found that mothers were very proud of their children. They had high expectations, particularly about what children could do by themselves. Mothers found it frustrating that teachers had low expectations, that schools were not good at communicating with them and that autism-specific skills and experience were uncommon in schools. They also reported racist attitudes towards their children. Mothers experienced stigma and lacked resources, but support was gained from their daughters and their religion. Mothers themselves were proactively increasing community awareness and knowledge about autism in the hope that they and their autistic children would be valued and better supported. Our work has implications for how teachers and schools can work together with Somali parents to forge better futures for autistic children.

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“…Yet, researchers noted that children of color are more likely to be placed in less inclusive environments and that teachers struggle to balance IDEA compliance pertaining to inclusivity with school resources (Ford & Russo, 2016). Thus, it is disconcerting that refugee families and ECMs might be too trusting in the law to provide equitable access, identification, and services to families who are unaware of the extent of their rights (Haines et al, 2018). With ECMs having limited experience with special education, yet providing support to refugee families, it is imperative that they are adequately informed so they are to advocate on the families' behalf.…”

Section: Ecms' Roles Supporting Families With a Child With A Disabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Resettlement Education Case Managers’ Roles Supporting Refugee Families With Children With Disabilities

Adams

Santos

2021

J Spec Educ

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Refugees have been resettling in the United States for decades, but there has been little attention in the special education literature to this population. The existing literature notes numerous systemic barriers refugee families and professionals encounter but has not investigated the roles of professionals in refugee resettlement agencies in supporting families who have children with disabilities. In this study, we used semi-structured interviews to explore resettlement education case managers’ (ECMs) roles and experiences assisting refugee families to access special education. Our findings revealed that ECMs provided intensive support to newly resettled families by educating them on the special education process, connecting them with supports, and sharing information about disability characteristics. Implications for research and practice are also provided.

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Family-Professional Partnerships With Refugee Families of Children With Disabilities

Cited by 8 publications

References 53 publications

“Your Eyes Open and so do Your Ears”: Centering Knowledge of Families with Refugee Backgrounds during a Follow-up Interview

“Your Eyes Open and so do Your Ears”: Centering Knowledge of Families with Refugee Backgrounds during a Follow-up Interview

‘Somali parents feel like they’re on the outer’: Somali mothers’ experiences of parent–teacher relationships for their autistic children

Resettlement Education Case Managers’ Roles Supporting Refugee Families With Children With Disabilities

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