ABSTRACT
The new Code of Practice (DfES 2001a) recognises that parents’ support for inclusion is vital to its success. Parents of children with physical difficulties may be very pro-inclusion and want their child in the mainstream school, or they may be quite antagonistic, feeling that their child would be better educated in a special school or unit. There may be ambiguity for many parents in their position. For example, parents of children with physical disabilities may support inclusion but not think that it is right for their own child. Teachers should not make the automatic assumption that parents would inevitably want inclusion if only there were sufficient resources; many do not (Jenkinson 1997, 1998). This chapter examines parents’ concerns about inclusion and suggests strategies for building a cooperative working arrangement between them and the school.
