"I’m Still Me Mommy”: A Narrative Inquiry Into Evaluative Constructs of Disability

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 4:55 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Stories on Sense of Belonging in Educational Relationships (Table 10)

Abstract

How do families navigate conversations between inclusion and diagnosis? How can disability be seen through a strengths-based lens while entangled with deficit-based evaluations and assessments? This paper examines these complexities through the narrative lens of a mother/teacher, navigating the process with her child. Through narratives spanning first conversations, the IEP process, diagnosis, and interventions, this study explores the dynamics between families, schools, and educators. The narratives open questions about ableism, positioning of family and teacher knowledge, and practices of inclusion couched within an often-dichotomous relationship with systemic authority held by assessing systems. Analysis of these narratives invites conversations about the power of these deficit-focused assessments, and sustaining collaborations with educators that reposition children and families as whole, knowledgeable, and able.

Author

• Dana Frantz Bentley, Buckingham Browne and Nichols School