Conference on disabled fathers
Disabled Fathers: Identifying a Research Agenda is the title of a one-day workshop to be held at the University of Hull on 22 February.
There is little in the way of an evidence-base about the experiences and needs of disabled fathers. They have been marginalised within relevant bodies of research, including work on fathers, masculinities, disability and parenting. This knowledge gap is troubling both because a range of policy agendas increasingly highlight the importance of fathers, and because anti-discrimination legislation has recently been extended to the provision of services. Without a fuller understanding of the experiences and needs of disabled fathers, the development of appropriate responses to their exclusions will be hampered, and initiatives around disability, fathering and parenting will be limited in their inclusionary potential.
This workshop, sponsored by the Social Policy Association and the University of Hull, will bring together those with an interest in disability, parenting, fathering, and masculinities in order to identify an agenda for research on disabled fathers.
Speakers will include Harriet Clarke (University of Birmingham, co-author of Parenting and Disability: Disabled Parents’ Experiences of Raising Children, The Policy Press, 2003) and John Keep (Chair, Disabled Parents Network).
For more details about the event, which is free, contact: Ms Jacqui Taylor – by phone on 01482 465779; by email to J.A.Taylor@hull.ac.uk; or by post to CASS, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX.
