Squeaky Wheels, Mothers from Hell, and CEOs of the IEP: Parents, Privilege, and the “Fight” for Inclusive Education

Authors

  • Priya Lalvani Montclair State University
  • Chris Hale University of Staten Island

Keywords:

Inclusive education, students with disabilities, socioeconomic privilege, access to educational resources

Abstract

In this analytical essay, we examine parents’ engagement in advocacy for inclusive education as a site wherein the constructed meanings of disability and parenting a child with a disability are mutually negotiated within ableist discourses and practices in schools. Through a review of literature on parents’ historical role in special education as well as current literature on their perceptions of a continuing “struggle” to access inclusive learning environments for their children, we explore why parents continue to believe that they need to “fight” for inclusive education and we raise concerns about which parents would be most equipped to takes on this “fight.”  Highlighting the extent to which some parents of children with disabilities draw on their cultural and economic capital to negotiate their children’s educational rights, we problematize a special education system in which access to inclusive education for students with disabilities is linked with socioeconomic privilege.

Author Biographies

Priya Lalvani, Montclair State University

Priya Lalvani is an Assistant Professor at Montclair State University within the Department of Early Childhood, Elementary, and Literacy Education. She has former work on the role of inclusive education and disability oppression.

Chris Hale, University of Staten Island

Chris Hale is an Assistant Professor at College of Staten Island within Educational Studies who has spent much of his career as a literarcy specialist working with students with learning disabilities.

Published

2015-12-03

How to Cite

Lalvani, P., & Hale, C. (2015). Squeaky Wheels, Mothers from Hell, and CEOs of the IEP: Parents, Privilege, and the “Fight” for Inclusive Education. Understanding and Dismantling Privilege, 5(2), 21–41. Retrieved from https://wpcjournal.com/article/view/14433

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 2 (2015): Understanding and Dismantling Privilege

Section

Research Articles

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