A practical guide for parents who want to move beyond addressing individual issues and explore ways to strengthen disability and neurodiversity inclusion across their school community. Learn how to establish a P&C subcommittee, build parent involvement and advocate for more structured disability representation within the school.

Sometimes advocating for your own child highlights a much broader issue: there may be no obvious place within the school community where parents can raise recurring accessibility, disability or neurodiversity concerns collectively rather than dealing with them one family at a time.

This guide explores two different pathways parents may wish to consider.

The first is creating a P&C subcommittee or similar parent-led inclusion group. It provides practical guidance for developing the idea, identifying its purpose, approaching the P&C, building support and proposing a structure focused on constructive, school-wide inclusion rather than individual student complaints.

The second explores advocating for a more visible disability inclusion contact or advisory role within the school. It uses the concept of an Anti-Racism Contact Officer (ARCO) as an example of how a recognised area of inclusion can have an identifiable point of contact, while exploring how parents might propose or advocate for a comparable approach to disability and neurodiversity.

Importantly, this guide does not suggest that an ARCO currently has responsibility for disability matters, or that schools are necessarily required to create an equivalent disability position. Rather, the existing ARCO model is used as a practical reference point for thinking about how disability inclusion could be given greater visibility, structure and representation within a school community.

You’ll learn how to develop a proposal around the purpose of the initiative rather than an individual grievance, explain why a structured pathway could benefit the broader school community, identify potential stakeholders and start conversations with the P&C and school leadership.

Inside, you’ll find practical wording, proposal ideas, meeting prompts and strategies for building support while keeping the discussion collaborative, constructive and focused on improving inclusion.

This is not about creating another complaints process. It is about asking a different question: how can parents help create a structure where disability and neurodiversity inclusion are considered proactively, rather than only when an individual problem arises?

This resource is designed for parents who want to move from “I keep advocating for the same issues one child at a time” to “How can we create a stronger inclusion pathway for the whole school community?”

✔ Explore how a P&C disability or neurodiversity subcommittee could work

✔ Develop a clear purpose and proposal before approaching your P&C

✔ Build parent participation around school-wide inclusion

✔ Understand the ARCO concept and why it can provide a useful comparison

✔ Explore advocating for a visible disability inclusion contact or advisory pathway

✔ Use practical scripts and wording when approaching the P&C or school leadership

✔ Keep the proposal focused on constructive, systemic change rather than individual complaints

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Disclaimer: This resource provides general information and practical advocacy strategies based on lived experience. References to P&C structures, ARCOs and possible disability inclusion roles are illustrative and do not imply that a particular school, P&C, education authority or other organisation is legally required to establish a subcommittee, position or equivalent disability role. Governance arrangements, policies, responsibilities and approval processes vary between schools, education sectors and P&C organisations. This resource is not legal, governance, educational or other professional advice. Users should check the rules and current requirements that apply to their own school and P&C before establishing or proposing a particular structure.