go near that no, she “I’ve heard: ‘Don’t child, she’s poorly’ – isn’t!” The negative attitudes parents experienced were seen to stem from a lack of understanding and awareness of disability, including how different impairments can affect behaviours. Particular issues children’s were raised around children with learning disabilities and difficulties, who may have challenging or unusual behaviours. In such cases, other parents tended to assume that these children were and, as ‘naughty’ such, objected to them attending play sessions alongside other children. One parent said: there is not a other parents tend to suggest that “If ‘visible impairment’ your child has behavioural problems. Other parents look at me as if to control your child you are a say ‘you can’t – bad mother” It was clear from the evidence we collected that the reactions of other people often have a profound and lasting impact on the parents of children with multiple needs, and sometimes, sadly, on the children themselves. Parents we spoke to tended to respond to negative attitudes in one of two ways. Some developed a and continued to attend play ‘thick skin’ settings whilst seeking to reach out to the other children, parents and providers and explain the needs of their child. One mother told us: had to grow up and become broad shouldered and become blind to “I’ve the ignorance in the world” Other parents chose to stop attending mainstream play settings in favour of play at home or specialist play sessions for disabled children with other parents in the same situation. The following quote reflects the experiences of many parents we spoke to, who wanted to attend more inclusive settings but, in the absence of these, felt more comfortable attending specialist groups: needs to be more mixing of disabled and non-disabled children “There but this is difficult as if parents feel welcome when they first access don’t a setting, they are unlikely to go back to that setting again. When you have a disabled child it is much easier to mix with other families with disabled children who will understand the issues you are facing” Another parent told us:
“I’ve heard: ‘Don’t go near that child, she’s poorly’ – no, she isn’t!” The negative attitudes parents experienced were seen to stem from a lack of understanding and awareness of disability, including how different impairments can affect children’s behaviours. Particular issues were raised around children with learning disabilities and difficulties, who may have challenging or unusual behaviours. In such cases, other parents tended to assume that these children were ‘naughty’ and, as such, objected to them attending play sessions alongside other children. One parent said: “If there is not a ‘visible impairment’ other parents tend to suggest that your child has behavioural problems. Other parents look at me as if to say ‘you can’t control your child – you are a bad mother” It was clear from the evidence we collected that the reactions of other people often have a profound and lasting impact on the parents of children with multiple needs, and sometimes, sadly, on the children themselves. Parents we spoke to tended to respond to negative attitudes in one of two ways. Some developed a ‘thick skin’ and continued to attend play settings whilst seeking to reach out to the other children, parents and providers and explain the needs of their child. One mother told us: “I’ve had to grow up and become broad shouldered and become blind to the ignorance in the world” Other parents chose to stop attending mainstream play settings in favour of play at home or specialist play sessions for disabled children with other parents in the same situation. The following quote reflects the experiences of many parents we spoke to, who wanted to attend more inclusive settings but, in the absence of these, felt more comfortable attending specialist groups: “There needs to be more mixing of disabled and non-disabled children but this is difficult as if parents don’t feel welcome when they first access a setting, they are unlikely to go back to that setting again. When you have a disabled child it is much easier to mix with other families with disabled children who will understand the issues you are facing” Another parent told us:
play-toolkits-making-the-case-for-play.docx