Listening to the experiences of second generation Pakistani Muslim parents of children with special educational needs : an interpretative analysis.

The purpose of this study was to consider the lived experiences of second generation Pakistani Muslim parents, of children with special educational needs. The study aimed to understand how the mothers made sense of their experiences as parents including the influence of their identity, their understanding of disability and any arising key messages for professional practice. This study was carried out by a trainee educational psychologist within a Local Authority setting. Semi structured interviews were conducted with seven mothers who were known by professionals from the Educational Psychology Service within the Local Authority. All the mothers identified themselves as second generation Pakistanis and as practising Muslims. Their children attended mainstream and specialist provisions in both primary and secondary schools. An additional focus group was also conducted with five of the mothers who were initially interviewed. An interpretive approach was adopted for this study with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) applied to the generated data from the semi structured interviews and focus group. The themes emerging from the interpretative analysis of the mothers accounts highlighted religious responses to disability, complex family and community relationships, shared personal feelings and coping mechanisms. Issues relating to the perception and experience of working with service providers as both a parent and an ethnic minority were also identified. Professionals should aim to examine the accessibility of systems and resources to parents from ethnic minority background with particular reference to cultural awareness and barriers that exist for parents for whom English is a second language. The need to listen to the individual experience of each family is stressed. Recommendations are provided for all agencies with the hope to lead to more effective inclusive practice