Experiences of Families of Young Children With Neuroatypicalities: Negotiating the Culture of Expertise

• In Event: Roundtable Session 56
  In Roundtable Session: Weaving Family and School Tapestries: Neuroatypicalities, Rural Context, and Social Class Divide Experiences

Abstract

Young children with neuroatypicalities are deeply affected by the educational context promoting the intensification of education in the early years through neoliberal policies. In this context, public schools are positioned to produce a “culture of expertise”. The culture of expertise serves to manage individual (dis)abilities and promote the quest for normalcy. This chapter “zooms in” on seven families’ experiences. We use a post-structural approach to our analysis of families’ interviews, examining shifting identity positioning, “slippages”, and “border pedagogies” experienced while negotiating and resisting the culture of expertise. The authors describe and analyze how families’ identities and actions shaping inclusive education present relative to intensive schooling. We conclude by summarizing possibilities for change toward more inclusive practices.

Authors

• Melissa Beth Sherfinski, West Virginia University

• Sera Mathew, West Virginia University