When School Hurts: An Autoethnographic Narrative Navigating the Dark Knowledge of Abusive Neglect within the Special Education System as a Mother, Educator, and Advocate

• In Event: Unforgetting Difficult Knowledge and Constructing Possibilities through Narrative Research

Abstract

This deeply personal and theoretically grounded autoethnography explores the trauma a disabled child experienced in a public school setting, illuminating the systemic ableism and neglect embedded in special education. As a mother, educator, and advocate, I explore the ways the education system, which should offer support and inclusion, often perpetuates harm and invisibility for disabled students. The purpose of this paper is to invite reflection on this lived curriculum of difficult knowledge (Cabiles, 2025) and to serve as a call for an intentional shift from compliance-based education toward liberatory practices rooted in justice, dignified care, and belonging for all students, specifically those with the most significant disabilities within the special education system.

Author

• Elizabeth Sherley, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley