Contesting Ableist Ideology Drawing on Latinx Mothers’ Cultural Values to Define Dis/ability

Abstract

Family–school collaborative practice is protected by legislation: the Individual with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) identifies parents as equal members of a multidisciplinary team. However, the discourse of parent involvement, defined by IDEIA (2004) policy, positions Latinx families of dis/abled children and upholds injustices by ignoring systematic racism, linguicism, and socioeconomic inequities. The current expectations for parent involvement do not consider the cultural patterns of families of dis/abled children as they support the developmental and academic goals of their children. This article problematizes an educational system that seeks to categorize, not only dis/abled children, but view their families as having deficits, which disproportionately impacts multilingual families of dis/abled children. By highlighting the origins, cultures, and experiences of Latinx mothers of dis/abled children, disability critical race (DisCrit) theory is expanded to deeply examine cultural identity to challenge the discourse of parent involvement entangled with linguicism, racism and ableist ideology.