Mother and Daughter Share Their Story of Living With the Protection and "In-Betweenness" of Disability

• In Event: 68.042 - Narrative Perspectives for Negotiating In/between Dis/ability, Labels, and Schooling

Abstract

The current study draws upon critical disability studies and feminist research to share the story of a mother and her daughter with special needs. Autobiographical narrative was used to allow the mother and daughter to co-create and share their story. Results illustrated that the child inhabited an “in-betwenness” in her disability in the ways her disability was less visual and therefore misunderstood. Likewise, the child presented a great deal of resistance in her learning, which was later understood as her way of protecting herself. Educational implications include suggestions for negotiating the “in-betweenness” of disability, as well as strategies for navigating resistance in learning. This study emphasizes the need for more participatory research that involves students with disabilities, and their parents.

Author

• Christine A. Woodcock, American International College