TY - JOUR
T1 - How do parents acquire information to support their child with a disability and navigate individualised funding schemes?
AU - Tracey, Danielle
AU - Johnston, Christine
AU - Papps, Fiona Ann
AU - Mahmic, Sylvana
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - With the international trend towards individualised funding packages that allocate funds to individuals to spend on disability support needs, the challenge of ensuring parents can readily access useful information to make decisions becomes paramount. The present research used a two stage, mixed method sequential approach (with 291 parents surveyed and 56 parents participating in focus groups) to determine how parents acquire information to enhance their understanding of their child’s disability and determine how to use an individualised funding scheme to benefit their child and family. Parents attested to the importance of person-to-person communication and valued information that originated from other parents of a child with a disability, and from professionals who knew their child. Parents also spoke about the limitations of the internet, noting that reliance on the internet could cause confusion as the validity of information could not be assured. Early childhood intervention services emerged as a key instrument in developing the capacity of families to make informed choices. Understanding families’ perspectives on the utility of information sources is critical and timely as policy-makers and service providers within the disability sector shift practice to meet the rise of individualised funding internationally.
AB - With the international trend towards individualised funding packages that allocate funds to individuals to spend on disability support needs, the challenge of ensuring parents can readily access useful information to make decisions becomes paramount. The present research used a two stage, mixed method sequential approach (with 291 parents surveyed and 56 parents participating in focus groups) to determine how parents acquire information to enhance their understanding of their child’s disability and determine how to use an individualised funding scheme to benefit their child and family. Parents attested to the importance of person-to-person communication and valued information that originated from other parents of a child with a disability, and from professionals who knew their child. Parents also spoke about the limitations of the internet, noting that reliance on the internet could cause confusion as the validity of information could not be assured. Early childhood intervention services emerged as a key instrument in developing the capacity of families to make informed choices. Understanding families’ perspectives on the utility of information sources is critical and timely as policy-makers and service providers within the disability sector shift practice to meet the rise of individualised funding internationally.
KW - children with disabilities
KW - information behavior
KW - parents of children with disabilities
UR - http://handle.westernsydney.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:42421
U2 - 10.1111/1471-3802.12390
DO - 10.1111/1471-3802.12390
M3 - Article
SN - 1471-3802
VL - 18
SP - 25
EP - 35
JO - Journal of Research in Special Education Needs
JF - Journal of Research in Special Education Needs
IS - 1
ER -