Supporting children at school is an important part of any parent’s life.

Disabled parents sometimes find there are very big barriers to encouraging their children’s education as much as they would like.

If your school has examples of good ways of supporting disabled parents and their children, please contact us so we can improve other schools. 



Schools and the DDA.

Schools must comply with the Disability Discrimination Act Part 3, Goods and Services.

The Disability Discrimination Act asks for “reasonable adjustments”  to enable disabled people to use schools as staff, parents and pupils. 

 
Schools must say how they do this in a Disability Equality Duty plan.

It must say how the school will provide “reasonable accommodations” for access and support for disabled adults using the school, including staff and parents.


Information about the school and your child should be provided in accessible formats.

Disabled parents should be supported to take part with other parents in the life of the school.

There is information about “reasonable adjustments” and Disability Equality Duty on the Teachernet website.


Transport to school.

Many disabled parents say getting children to school is one of the most difficult parenting tasks.

There are several ways this can be managed, depending on your own situation.

If talking to your child’s school does not solve the problem, consider asking for support from Adult Social Services. A social worker will be able to access more support so that your child gets to school safely and does not miss school. 


Support for a disabled parent to be involved with their child’s education can be included in Community Care assessments. 

More info on assessments.  

More information for parents and schools.

Disability, Pregnancy and Parenthood international Guides (2007)
G3 Information for schools working with deaf parents & parents-to-be.
G4 Supporting children in school: a guide for visually impaired parents and education professionals.
T6 Choosing and applying for schools: a guide for visually impaired parents.
T7 Education resources and contacts: a guide for visually impaired parents and education professionals.

Price £6.00, free of charge to disabled parents from DPPi website.

http://www.dppi.org.uk/.

Disabled Parents and schools: barriers to parental involvement in children's education. Jenny Morris (2004),

Joseph Rowntree Foundation website. http://www.jrf.org.uk.