Participatory Possibilities for Family Partnerships Research in Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education

Advancing what is known about equitable family—professional partnerships in early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) requires that scholars disrupt damaging narratives and meaningfully collaborate with marginalized families. While there are many ways that EI/ECSE scholars can address these issues, participatory research is well-suited to do so. Through participatory research, marginalized families are positioned as equitable partners who co-construct inquiry strategies alongside academic researchers. Despite the potential of participatory research, it is relatively uncommon to investigate family partnerships in EI/ECSE. As such, the purpose of this research method report is to examine how participatory scholarship can reckon with deficit-based narratives about families. I present a vision for participatory EI/ECSE family partnerships research, highlighting how this approach repositions families as researchers, centers family wisdom, and redistributes power to families. Recommendations for how EI/ECSE researchers might draw on participatory approaches to transform family partnerships scholarship are shared.