Elusive Choices: Special Needs Homeschooling

• In Event: 67.061 - Power and Parity in Special Education: Building and Mending Partnerships With Families

Abstract

Neoliberal reforms, like school choice, often ignore that choices rarely happen in isolation (James, 2013; Waitoller & Super, 2017). Race, ethnicity, social class, and disability effect available educational choices (Grady & Bialick, 2010). In fact, homeschooling may reflect one of the few “choices” left for parents who find available school options inappropriate (James, 2013), unaffordable, or inaccessible. In this paper, we discuss findings from a multi-state qualitative study on the relationship between race, disability and home schooling. Parents were motivated not by ideology, but by their child(ren)’s negative school experiences of being bullied, pushed out, excluded, or denied services. Moreover, securing necessary services and supports for their children, required navigating a patchwork of educational providers and community networks.

Authors

• Beth A. Ferri, Syracuse University

• Layla Dehaiman, Syracuse University

• Kathryn MacLeod, Syracuse University

• Marcelle M. Haddix, Syracuse University