Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2019-9
An autoethnography of a neurotypical adoptive mother’s journey through adoption into the world(s) of intellectual variety in the early years of the U.S. Education System
This narrative is my story of being catapulted from a distanced space of relative naïveté and unknowing about the lives and challenges that children with disabilities face in the school system. It is also a tale about my increased radicalization birthed from witnessing my daughter’s school experiences and the informal social relations of childhood. Mine is one of many stories that could be told about this set of experiences. Taking an evocative, autoethnographic approach, and blending the evocative and analytical traditions provides me with a unique reflexive vehicle. It allows a critical connection and reflection on my own experiences and the literature, as my family identifies, deconstructs, and responds to the cultural, social, and political dimensions of our daughter’s life in the geography she has inhabits as a “child with special needs.” The focus in this work is on her early years including placement, infancy, pre-school, and kindergarten.
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