Author ORCID Identifier
Rachel E. Fish: 0000-0002-5720-021X
Alexandra Freidus: 0000-0002-4452-3247
Erica Turner: 0000-0002-3875-5076
Document Type
White Paper
Publication Date
2025
Publication Title
Forthcoming
Abstract
In this paper, we show how positionality shapes caregivers’ decisions about children’s schooling, by expanding on research on Black families’ educational decision-making (Cooper, 2025; Posey-Maddox et al., 2021) to examine the positions from which families of disabled and multiply-marginalized children make educational choices. The families of disabled children in our sample made holistic, ongoing risk assessments and weighed trade-offs based on their positions during a period of time marked by multiple, on-going “choice moments” (Posey-Maddox, et. al, 2021): the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic. We show that disability and ableism – intersecting with racism and socioeconomic inequality – increased the frequency, ongoing nature, and complexity of choice moments, as well as the risks embedded in each educational option. This intersectional marginalization constrained the options available to families, forcing them to choose between school settings that caused different kinds of harm. Our findings extend beyond the pandemic by revealing how ableism and special education structures complicate and stratify school choice for families of disabled students.
Recommended Citation
Fish, Rachel E.; Freidus, Alexandra; and Turner, Erica O., "Weighing Risks: How Families of Disabled Children Made School Choices During the Pandemic" (2025). Education and Child Study: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/edc_facpubs/36
Comments
Archived as published.