Given the rather unsatisfactory situation in the general progress of implementing the right to inclusive education worldwide and the scarce resources and infrastructure in many countries, it is not surprising that also the specific group of refugees with disabilities, finding themselves on the intersection of multiple vulnerabilities, face various challenges when accessing their right to inclusive education worldwide (Smith-Khan & Crock, 2018), as well as in Germany (Deutsches Institut für Menschenrechte, 2016; Steigmann, 2020; Bacakova, 2023). These range from physical inaccessibility of school facilities (Refugee Law Project, 2014; Steigmann, 2020), missing and inadequate teacher training in inclusive education (Handicap International, 2015), the lack of even the most basic assistive devices ensuring reasonable accommodation as required by the CRPD (Smith-Khan & Crock, 2018) to stereotyping and stigmatising of children with disabilities and/or their families (Smith-Khan, 2013; HelpAge International & Handicap International, 2014; UNESCO, 2018). All these barriers prevail despite the increased funding of education in emergencies (UNESCO, 2020). While it is essential to research and target the exclusion refugees with disabilities face, it is just as important to challenge the victim perspective and give space to the agency of maginalised population. This is why this proposed paper concentrates not on the discriminatory practices faced by Ukrainian refugee parents of children with disabilities in Germany when accessing education, but on their dreams and aspirations for their children, which have until now remained largely unknown. The paper will present part of a larger mixed-methods research project currently (2023-2024) conducted by a team lead by the author concentrating only on the results obtained from more than 300 Ukrainian refugee families with children with disabilities through an online survey offering first insights into the educational dreams these parents share.

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