Experienced and Unprepared: A Parent-Educator Journey of Advocacy, Struggle, and Hope

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

Abstract

This duoethnographic study explores how two parent-educator/scholars of Color navigated their adolescent daughter’s mental health crisis, including her transition from general education settings to residential care. Grounded in DisCrit, the authors (re)story their lived experiences and reflect on how racism and ableism shaped their journey. They examine how race, gender, and disability intersected in their daughter’s struggle and recovery, and offer affirming and humanizing educational practices that schools can implement to more compassionately support students and families navigating mental health-related challenges. The study reveals the personal and institutional costs of securing care and calls for more responsive, equity-centered approaches to education. It contributes to critical understandings of how families experience support systems amid youth mental health crises.

Authors

• Cristina C. Santamaria Graff, Indiana University - Indianapolis

• Román Graff, Ball State University