Narratives of single, black mothers using cultural capital to access autism interventions in schools

Abstract

Lack of access to autism treatment has deepened the disparities for Black children with ASD. Limited resources and lack of advocacy skills in Black families are reasons given for these service gaps but a need to identify mechanisms that support Black families access to treatment for their children have yet to be investigated. This paper explores the forms of cultural capital single Black mothers use to advocate for their children with autism in schools in the US. Using a Thematic Analysis, interviews were coded for several domains of cultural capital found in the literature, including aspirational, familial, social, linguistic, resistant, navigational, motherhood and black cultural capital. Mothers in the study predominately provided examples of resistant and navigational capital. Additionally, mothers were more likely to use their capital to impact services for their child, when schools engaged in family-centered practice.