Abstract
Families of people with disabilities in southern hemisphere countries have, more often than not, been portrayed as having a passive role in the integration of their children in their respective societies. The paper presents qualitative data tracing the regular-school experience of a young Brazilian boy with visual disability over a period of three scholastic years. The study reveals that the family's involvement is complex and multifaceted, encompassing aspects within as well as without the context of the school setting. In the absence of coherent and well-structured educational provisions for children with disabilities enrolled in regular schools, the family was solely responsible for ensuring its son's access to and permanency in school year after year.
The study revealed the existence of adaptive strategies and forms of resistance taken on by the family in response to an organizational school and educational systems that are typically oblivious to the presence! And needs of pupils with disabilities. The views and experiences of the families of disabled children and young people remain yet to be fully heard and understood. Qualitative and longitudinal studies are useful instruments that would bring about such an understanding, enhancing a genuine partnership between professional and families and promoting the lives of children and young people with disabilities.
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