Canevaro, Ana M.

A descriptive study of Latina mothers’ perceptions of their children’s
reading-related learning disabilities and of their home literacy practices
was conducted. How the mothers’ perceptions influenced their
involvement in the special education process was also examined. The
participants were eight mothers of English Language Learners served in
three elementary bilingual special education classrooms in a large urban
school district in Texas. The researcher conducted three open-ended
interviews with the mothers and then analyzed the data using a modified
grounded theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) to identify themes.
The participants focused the interviews on their children’s language
and reading difficulties, which they described as “learning problems” but
not as “learning disabilities”. To them, the term disability connoted severe,
visibly identified, or permanent conditions such as mental retardation or mental illness. They expected their children to overcome their reading
problems because they were being served in what mothers called “special
classes” rather than “special education”. In general, the mothers did not
seem to understand the deliberations of the Admission, Review and
Dismissal (ARD) committee, the group that determined special education
eligibility. Even though the mothers had attended the initial ARD meeting
and had given their consent to place their child in a bilingual special
education program, they did not seem to understand the significance of
this decision.
The mothers reported that they had sufficient access to literacy
materials, and that these typically came from the school or community
library or from church. They described a variety of family literacy
practices, including the mothers reading and or listening to their younger
children and assisting them with homework. However, siblings worked
with older children when Spanish materials were beyond the mothers’
literacy levels, the assignments were too difficult, or the texts or
assignments were in English.
In addition to cultural differences in perceptions of disability,
language barriers contributed to breakdowns in communication between
families and educators. The findings suggest a need for more research on how to effectively involve Spanish-speaking parents in special education
decision-making and service delivery.Special Educatio

Latina mothers' perceptions about their children's reading-related learning disabilities

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