LSEN Parents' Awareness and Perspectives on Special Education Services for Children with Special Needs

This study investigates the awareness and perspectives of parents of Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSEN) in Baguio City on the availability and accessibility of special education services.Using a qualitative approach, a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted with nine (9) 'ausome' parents of children with special needs enrolled in inclusive primary schools.The discussion explored their experiences in seeking and availing of community-based services such as assessment, therapy and educational support.Findings revealed big gap between plan and reality within the Philippine service delivery ecosystem, where support mechanisms are defined by systemic fragmentation and inequity.The central idea of the finding was the perceived service vacuum at the barangay level, forcing families into a state of isolation and self-management.Access was heavily restricted by a bureaucratic labyrinth characterized by the imposition of high costs for essential services, the strict monetization of required documents, and perceptions of favoritism and administrative gatekeeping.Awareness was highly reactive and school-dependent, creating significant unequal information for unenrolled families.The study concludes that the system operates to push the burden onto the family unit, resulting in unsustainable hidden labor for caregivers, which is made worse by continuous public stigma.The findings highlight the critical urgency of LGU-led structural reform, necessitating the immediate mandate of decentralized, subsidized service hubs and the implementation of comprehensive anti-stigma campaigns to achieve true inclusion.