Dear fellow list members,
I am a Ph.D. candidate at Brandeis University, in Sociology and Social Policy.
My dissertation focuses on parental participation and parent-professional
relationships in a program called Early Intervention, which serves infants and
toddlers with developmental delays. The bulk of the thesis will rely on
qualitative field work (interviews with parents and staff, and observations of
them working together). The philosophy of the program is "family-centered"
and "family-driven," and much has been written about promoting parental
empowerment within the program. One of the chapters in my dissertation will
focus on how parents influenced the program's philosophy, through the
legislation which created the program.
One piece of this story comes from the parents' movement in the U.S. Parents
started organizations and fought on behalf of their children, first through
fund raising and other publicity efforts in the late 1940s and early 1950s,
and later through struggles for services and the right to participate in
decisions about their children's education and health care. I have found only
a few sources on the parents' movement (such as the Turnbulls, Shapiro, and
Pizzo), and thought that I should ask the group if anyone is aware of any
histories of this movement. Information about similar parental movements in
other countries would also be extremely helpful, as it will help me think
about the kinds of claims that parents have made elsewhere.
Thanks very much,
Valerie Leiter
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|