Chinese Immigrant Mothers of Children With Disabilities in the United States: A Video-Cued Qi Ethnography

• In Event: Centering Parents' Advocacy in Education Research With Multiply Marginalized Children

Abstract

I draw on critical and decolonial feminist theories to explore the knowings of Chinese immigrant mothers and their strengths in raising children with disabilities in the United States. By using video-cued qi ethnography, preliminary findings reveal how the mothers’ knowings are interconnected and dynamic. Participants connected their mothering to a state of heart related to qi, a Chinese concept that means breath, spirit and life force. As the mothers continued to learn about and from their children, qi connected their hearts with qi fen(atmosphere) at home and in the community and in turn brought change to their children and themselves. I re(member) the mothers through photos, quotes, narratives and poetry and illuminate a fuller picture of their lives.

Author

• Eleanor Xiaoxiao Mehta, University of Georgia
  Presenting Author