As an early childhood professional, this author spent the first 17 years of her career as an advocate for children and their families. With an advanced degree in early childhood special education, she learned about the pitfalls and triumphs of special education. After leaving the classroom and entering the world of academia in teacher education,…

The authors argue for the need of a cyclical, rather than a linear, model of family coping and life management when a child has a disability. Longitudinal support for such a cyclical model of family life management is presented, with recognition that parental control of outcome lessens as the young person ages, because the adult world is not…

The mother of a disabled child examines the various meanings of "exceptional" and concludes that all parents are exceptional in some way. (CL)

Parents have been trained in "therapizing" their handicapped child at the expense of play and need to understand the importance of play for development of the child, appropriate play, and ways to circumvent the child's handicap. The specialist aids in parent-child interactions and choice of play environments and opportunities. (MC)

The authors examine barriers to disseminating research knowledge to parents of handicapped children, stress the importance of researchers communicating to parents, and suggest ways to improve dissemination efforts.

The article identifies 14 rights parents of disabled children must allow themselves which include the right to mourn, the right to feel one is doing the best one can, the right to organize one's life for one's own satisfaction, and the right to a sense of humor. (DB)

An examination of the assumptions underlying parent participation in the education of handicapped children suggests that parent preferences have not been considered. A model of graduated participation is offered in which parents determine the extent of their participation. (Author/CL)

An organizer of a support program for fathers of children with disabilities discusses the father's role in the family, myths surrounding the father's role, coping with the extra stresses in families with disabled children, and emotional adjustment to the disability. (DB)

The organizer of a national support group for fathers of children with disabilities discusses the special interests and concerns of fathers and offers examples from support group meetings. (DB)

This essay comments on parenting experiences with attention to both the resonances as well as the variant chords struck over a lifetime. Specifically, it hopes to convey the complexity of authorship concerns in the example of overlapping lives parents and their disabled child share.

The paper examines special needs of low income families with handicapped children. The author asserts that parents must become acquainted with their rights under P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. The need of these families for advocates is underlined. Generalizations held by many people about low income families are…

The article examines the conceptual bases for parent advocacy, discusses some potential abuses of parent advocacy, reviews the parental role in advocacy, and offers suggestions for parent advocates. (Author/DLS)

Parents of children with disabilities must maintain a fine balance between protecting their child from thoughtless cruelty and discrimination and teaching their child to deal with such actions. Parents should quickly end any cruel actions toward the child, be open about the disability's nature, and talk to parents of the child's peers. (CB)

The article gives parents of a handicapped child a five step problem solving approach to solving conflict with the child's school. (DB)

The author, the parent of a mentally retarded child, shares her thoughts on the issue of parent participation in the handicapped child's education. (SB)