Invisible Battles: Disability, Power, and Powerlessness

Invisible Battles: Disability, Power, and  Powerlessness (Disability TIG)

Speakers:

CHAIR: KLEIN, Wendy (CSULB) LILLY, Samantha (U Michigan) A Case Study on the  Efficacy of Argentina’s National Mental Healthcare  Law ‘Ley Nº 26.657’ MCILRATH, Grace (Luther Coll) Invisible Battles of  “Ordinary” Mothers: Stories of Disability Advocacy in  Iowa ROBERTS, Michelle (UKY) Everyday Ablenationalism:  “Drawing a Check” in Appalachian Kentucky DREXLER, Livy (MI State U) Not Like Any Other  School: How the Environment at a Tribal School  Challenges Conceptions of Disability KLEIN, Wendy (CSULB) Autism and Bilingual  Socialization: Perspectives and Practices in Bilingual  Families

Abstract

MCILRATH, Grace (Luther Coll) Invisible Battles of “Ordinary”  Mothers: Stories of Disability Advocacy in Iowa. This paper  discusses the results from conversations with 17 mothers of  children with special health-care needs in Iowa. Interviews  covered a range of themes, including pregnancy, discovering  the disability, doctors, schools, the child, speaking about the  disability, parenting, and leadership. Many mothers expressed  their longing for a “normal” life doing things “normal families”  often take for granted. A fascinating facet of our explorations were the lessons learned about the invisibility of social movements and activism for disability rights in the United States. The erasure of the dominant role of women leaders fighting for maternal and child healthcare rights was astounding. [e-mail] (W107)

 

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