Parenting manifesto: Why we need parents in government to stand up and be counted

We need more parents in government. Come to think of it, we have lots of parents in government. What we need is parents in government who are willing to stand up for the real issues facing parents and children. So we parents should welcome the fact that candidates will run in the general election on the disabilities issue. I hope it will be a broad church.

While people like Kathryn Sinnot are associated with extreme forms of disability, such as autism, there are many other forms of intellectual difference, that may not be categorised as "disability" - and which like "disability" are also ignored by the education system. Parents need to recognise that the education system is designed for the majority of children who are "normal" and "average", and that it often cannot deal with the children who are outside these narrow definitions, whether they are "challenged", "gifted", or a combination of the two.

There are many other parenting issues that also need representation in government - managing work and children being one of the most important. Politics operates according to a deeply institutionalised, antagonistic framework, where "party policies" vie for votes.

What we need now are "family policies" which are outside politics so that parents in government can really do something useful, instead of infighting and grappling for power.