There has been much debate on the role of parents when supporting their disabled children in mainstream schools. Several authors have pointed to parents high level of advocacy or their conflicts with professionals. On the other hand, parents often perceived mainstream settings as fostering social and academic learning of their offspring. However, while parents viewpoint on ‘inclusive education’ has been subject to numerous research, relatively little is known about the perception of parental support in mainstream schools from the viewpoint of the disabled persons involved. Recently, a few studies have pointed to the benefits of biographical approaches for analyzing this topic of concern, as they enable researchers to study not only the perception, but also the ‘impact’ of familial support on educational trajectories.

This paper aims to contribute to this young strand of research and investigates into the interplay of students, their parents and mainstream schools in relation to disability over time. Doing so, we draw on the life stories of three disabled young persons from three different European countries. Reading the stories, we refer to life course concepts and a broad understanding of Bourdieu´s capital theory.

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