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Abstract: Given the growing proportion of students receiving special education services who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD), there is a critical need to understand the experiences of Latinx immigrant parents of children with disabilities. This qualitative study sought to understand the perspectives of nine Latinx immigrant parents of children with developmental disabilities regarding their child's individualized education program (IEP). We conducted semi-structured interviews and analyzed the data using a general inductive approach and constant comparison analysis. Seven themes emerged: (a) parents' insecurity of knowledge, (b) difficult terminology, (c) confusion with the IEP process, (d) discrimination or misconceptions, (e) language barriers, (f) need of parent advocacy, and (g) stafflack ofknowledge. We discuss implications for future research and practice.
The culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) population in the United States (US) has gradually increased over the last several decades. At the current rate, it is estimated that about 40% of school-age children will speak a language at home other than English by 2030 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017). In the 2019-2020 school year, 20.6% of the students in Texas received bilingual education or English as a second language (ESL) service (Texas Education Agency, 2019). The prevalence of CLD school-age children receiving special education services is also increasing, which emphasizes the need for equity discourse in special education (Barrio, 2021). Research shows that students of color are disproportionately assigned to special education services (Scott et al., 2017). Research indicates that students of color experience disproportionately lower academic performance and higher dropout rates than those of their White counterparts (National Center for Education Statistics, 2014). Although advocates and policymakers have tried to alleviate this issue, racial disparities are still among the main indicators of inequality in educational services (Fish, 2019; Kramarczuk et al., 2017).
Many studies have found that parental involvement is associated with student achievement (Sebastian et al., 2017). However, for parents with limited English proficiency (LEP), being involved with their child's education remains a challenge. Many CLD families arrive in the United States with different cultures, languages, and traditions. As such, they may be hesitant to advocate in the same way as other families do because they lack the knowledge of the education system from the United States (Harry, 2008). Thus, this presents challenges in access...