J. Except. People 2022, 11(1):27-38

Exploring parental advocacy of children with special needs in learning English: a narrative inquiry

Bethellionie Wahyudi1, Irfan Rifai2
1 Universitas PGRI Adi Buana Surabaya. Jl, Dukuh Menanggal XII Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia
2 Pascasarjana Universitas Pasundan. Jl. Sumatera No. 41, Bandung 40117, Indonesia

Parental advocacy in children with special needs should be further explored, aiming at providing help and supports for parents to their children's education, particularly in language learning. This study sought to explore the ways parents from different socioeconomic statuses (SES) practised their parental advocacy or involvement on their children with special needs in English language learning. To this end, this research centralized to a single question: How do the parents coming from different SES practise parental advocacy to the children with special needs in learning the English language? Narrative inquiry is employed as the research design of this study. Two mothers from Indonesia whose children have been diagnosed with autism voluntarily participated in this study. The data collected via interviews were transcribed verbatim, then analyzed narratively. The finding of this study highlighted that families from different SES experienced fluctuating feelings when having children with special needs. However, they insisted on practising various ways to nurture their children in learning English despite some problems that emerged during practising advocacy. The finding of this current study might contribute to the practices of parental advocacy towards children with special needs, particularly in learning English.

Keywords: Children with Special Needs, Learning English, Parent Involvement, SES

Published: December 11, 2022  Show citation

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Wahyudi, B., & Rifai, I. (2022). Exploring parental advocacy of children with special needs in learning English: a narrative inquiry. Journal of Exceptional People, 11(20), 27-38
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