Abstract:
In Aotearoa New Zealand, children with disabilities encounter barriers to accessing support through health and education early intervention services. As a signatory state to the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), Aotearoa New Zealand agrees to uphold the rights set forth by the international conventions. The most recent reports on implementation of UNCRC and UNCRPD find children, especially Māori children, to have inadequate and inequitable access to health, education, and disability support services. Research literature finds issues with changing conceptions of disability and models of disability support, challenges with provision of inclusive education practices, a lack of specialised practitioners, and variability in practice across the country as contributors to problems of access to services. This research uses socioecological and critical disability theories to inform a qualitative examination of issues related to access to services and influences on disability support services delivery (including parent and professional experiences, roles, and relationships). Critical constructivist methodologies are used to inform data collection and analysis through narrative interviewing and research journaling methods. Vertical and horizontal analyses are used in constructing individual narrative case studies and performing thematic analysis of the findings. Study results are discussed using a Relational Practices in Context model that explains interactions at multiple levels and constructions of disability as influences on access to services and parent and practitioner’s experiences of those services. Findings from the research indicate that relationship-based practice is more than a method of providing services. Relational practice is also indicated as an intervention used by practitioners in supporting children with disabilities and their families. Research findings also indicate that parents and practitioners use relational practices to bridge gaps in services, but that these practices alone are not sufficient to address access related issues. Research findings indicate a need for policy to support practice environments that enable relationships between children, families and practitioners to develop over time. This research contributes to broader understanding of the role of relationships and relational ways of practising in support of children with disabilities and their families.