PARENTS, POLITICS AND THE PUBLIC PURSE - ACTIVISTS IN THE SPECIAL-EDUCATION ARENA IN GERMANY

Using a 'social interest' approach, this paper details the advocacy st rategics of parents of children with disabilities ill the Federal Repu blic of Germany during the 1980s. Parents developed grass-roots organi zations beginning in the 1970s zi? the former West Germany in response to the stigma and isolation of the well-developed system of Sondersch ulen (special schools). Parent groups described here include both thos e with children already in the Sonderschulen working to ensure its pro mise of special help for their children and those working to bypass th e Sonderschule system by establishing model integration programs ill t he general schools. The collective actions that led to local successes for both these parent advocate approaches are documented, but so, too , are the obstacles the parents encountered in the broader political a rena. Politicians continue to cite limited education budgets, especial ly following the unification of the two Germanys, and they also raise concerns which some patients share: that significant expansion of spec ial Educational support into the general schools could undermine the v iability, of the Sonderschulen. rhus, one political response to the in tegration movement has been to find places for sonic children with dis abilities in the general schools, but accompanied by only minimal spec ial education support.