Perkins Mexico
Mother Leaders
Parents and teachers are equally important parts of the educational team for children with multiple disabilities.
Navigating their child’s care
In Mexico, as in many countries, mothers and female caregivers are most often a child’s lead educator and chief advocate. Mothers of children with complex disabilities are on the front lines of navigating their child’s care, which can consume and overwhelm their daily life. A child with complex conditions needs an enormous amount of energy, time, and emotional support from mothers, as they seek the most accurate, current and vetted resources and educational programming to meet their child’s needs.
We need to ask ourselves not where can my child go, but where can I go with my child?”
Angelica Escobar, mother leader
We believe in the strength and beauty of the parent-child relationship and the recognition that each child has his or her own unique journey and each path is different, yet the need for connection, information, and resources is a common bond amongst all families.
Work in action
Perkins helps build the capacity of mothers through support groups, training, coaching, and mentoring to foster strong parent associations. Here’s how:
- Creating circles of mothers led by a mother leader/local facilitator in the special education school (CAM) to build morale and offer ideas ranging from fostering peer-to-peer support to identifying their strengths and advocacy.
- Organizing meetings or trainings where mothers share their experiences with educators and can identify strengths and opportunities for improvement as active participants in their children’s learning journey.
- Promoting dialogue and collaboration between mothers and educators so they learn from each other and create a relationship of trust, leading to a stronger educational team that can better support a child’s learning journey and a more active family and community life.
- Observing educators provides parents a variety of communication and teaching/learning strategies and adaptations which can be applied in the home, and reinforces the importance of inclusion and respect for the particular needs of the children.
- Facilitating forums to discuss different life transitions that each child and family goes through to be able to establish clear and achievable goals appropriate for each stage of life.