Date

12-2017

Document Type

Capstone Project (Campus-Only Access)

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

Department

Health, Human Services and Public Policy

First Advisor

Alicia Hernandez Sanchez

Second Advisor

Aimee Mangan

Abstract

Latino youth with disabilities in Santa Cruz County who were in Special Education are not successfully transitioning into independent adults. The capstone Ven vamos a platicar (Come and Let’s Talk) is a project through the Santa Cruz Commission on Disabilities, which is an advisory committee appointed by the County Board of Supervisors on issues impacting persons with disabilities. Ven vamos a platicar is a set of one-on-one conversations with Spanish speaking monolingual parents of children with disabilities to identify potential community leaders and participants in an educational and action based support group. The purpose of this project is to listen to parents who have children with disabilities to understand their experiences and challenges in getting their children the support needed to become socially and academically successful. The expected outcome of the project is to have twelve one-on-one conversations with Hispanic parents. One of the most important results was that Hispanic parents with children in Special Education feel powerless in their capacity to make decisions, and seek assistance from educators. Those parents do not utilize services that their children are entitled to receive. These issues become more evident as those parents go through a series of stressful experiences involving the learning of a new language and its customs, as well as adjusting to a new educational system. Therefore, the recommendations to the commission are: in January 2018 there should be a meeting with the parents to share the findings of the conversations, and introduce them to the commissioners and explain their role in the community.

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