ABSTRACT
All professionals bring cultural assumptions in their interactions with families. Many are related to one’s professional training, such as the belief in children’s right to education. However, these assumptions can be problematic if they differ from those of families and are further exacerbated when they occur across countries. Drawing from research and the author’s own experiences as a consultant and researcher on India and Cambodia, this chapter examines some challenges these different contexts present and the cultural assumptions professionals might bring, particularly with regard to working with families of children with disabilities from other countries, and offers the process of cultural reciprocity towards working through these challenges. The first part of the chapter identifies the dominant values of the field that consultants might bring to interactions with families and then describes the families’ values. Next, the section on implications for practice provides real examples to illustrate the process of cultural reciprocity in consultative interactions with families in international contexts. Finally, the chapter examines the implications of applying this approach in future training and research.
