(M)othering Labeled Children: Bilingualism and Disability in the Lives of Latinx Mothers (Bilingual Education & Bilingualism, 131)

This book takes a distinctive approach to exploring the experiences and identities of minoritized Latinx mothers who are raising a child who is labeled as both an emergent bilingual and dis/abled. It showcases relationships between families and schools and reveals the myriad of ways in which school-based decisions regarding disability, language and academic placement impact family dynamics. Treating the mothers as experts, this book uses testimonios to explore not only what mothers know but also how they develop funds of knowledge and how they apply them to their child's education. The stories shed light on how mothers perceive their child's disability, how they engage with their child and the value they place on bilingualism. The narratives reveal the complex lives mothers lead and the ways in which they strive to meet the academic and socioemotional needs of their children, regardless of the financial, physical and emotional costs to them. This book has significant implications for researchers and professionals working in bilingual education, special education, inclusive education and disability studies in education. Winner of the AAAL First Book Award 2023. DOI https://doi.org/10.21832/CIOE1289 4 Contents 7 Acknowledgements 9 The Able Bendiciones of Latina Mothers: A Foreword 11 Preface: A Note on Positionality 14 Part 1 The Social Constructions of Motherhood: Poverty, Monolingualism and Disability (by Proxy) 17 1 Why Mothers? Why These Mothers? 19 2 ‘They don’t care, they don’t understand, they’re in denial’: Constructions of Mothers as Others 29 3 Other People’s Stories 49 4 Setting the Stage: An Introduction to the Mothers and the Significance of a Place and Time 59 5 At Home with the Testimonialistas 69 Part 2 Testimonios: Mothers Speak 81 6 Mothering With, Through and Alongside Dis/ability Labels 83 7 Broken Promise: The Security of Bilingualism for the Future and the Ambiguity of Bilingualism in the Present 105 8 Teacher? Student? Both: Mothers as Language Brokers 122 9 Bending Roles: Resisting Exclusion, Creating Paths for Engagement 134 10 Broken Spirits: Challenges Faced by MoEBLADs 146 11 Motherhood as Purpose 159 Part 3 Making Room for Mothers: Visions of Radical Possibilities 173 12 Repairing Broken Systems 175 13 Moving Forward Together 191 Making Personal,Professional and Global Connections: An Afterword 194 Index 200 "This book explores the experiences and identities of minoritized Latinx mothers who are raising a child who is labeled as both an emergent bilingual and dis/abled. It showcases relationships between families and schools and reveals the ways in which school-based decisions regarding disability, language and academic placement impact family dynamics"-- Provided by publisher