“Inclusion is Non-Negotiable”: Resistance, Identity and Agency Among Parents of Children with Disabilities

• In Event: Voices of Advocacy: Family and Caregiver Perspectives on Disability in Education

Abstract

This qualitative study examined the experiences of parents and caregivers who sought inclusive education for their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Data collected from 33 participants via semi-structured interviews captured how parents resisted exclusionary schooling practices and advocated for their children’s educational rights. Findings revealed problematic special education practices and exposed the institutional mechanisms that sanction ability-based segregation in schools. Parents were agentic, defining inclusion as a fundamental right for their children. Amplifying parent perspectives, this paper sheds light on ableist discourses embedded in special education that uphold an implicit ideology of separate but equal for some disabled students. Simultaneously, it highlights the agency of parents in shaping inclusivity, thereby enabling the construction of their identities as “inclusion warriors”.

Authors

• Eileen Cardona Osieja, Montclair State University

• Priya Lalvani, Montclair State University