From "Advocate" to "Critical Supporter": Theorizing Special Education Advocacy When Centering Black Families

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Eleven
  In Roundtable Session: Centering Black Families and Black Youth in Inquiry and Transformative Education (Table 13)

Abstract

In this paper, we theorize critical supporters, defined as intersectionally conscious advocates who are invested in combating inequities and address injustices through centering the experiences and knowledge of Black children with disabilities, their families, and their communities. To do this, we advance how traditional notions of special education advocacy are steeped in adversarial, individualistic patterns of thought and behavior that ultimately reproduce, justify, and maintain inequities that continue to harm Black children with disabilities and their families. The outcomes of this theoretical paper outline a transformative conceptualization of the role of special education advocates as critical supporters, abandoning adversarial, deficit-centered language and approaches and by valuing community embeddedness as a core value.

Authors

• Courtney L. Wilt, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater
  Presenting Author

• Sylvia Nabwire Nyegenye, EasterSeals
  Presenting Author

• Mildred Boveda, Pennsylvania State University
  Presenting Author

• Endia J. Lindo, Texas Christian University
  Presenting Author

• Aubry D. Threlkeld, Threlkeld Educational Consulting
  Presenting Author