Parents’ role in enabling the participation of their child with a physical disability : Actions, challenges and needs

Of the 80,000 children in the Netherlands with a physical disability, many encounter daily problems with social participation. Parents appear to have a significant and positive influence on this participation. This dissertation found that we can learn a lot from these parents’ experiences. The actions, challenges and needs of parents primarily focus on the barriers to participation in the physical environment (e.g. limited access to schools, shops and playgrounds) and the social environment (e.g. negative attitude of others, lack of knowledge among teachers or sports instructors). This experiential knowledge is relevant for our modern participation society.