This book presents an in-depth discussion of how human disability and parental advocacy have been constructed in American society, including recommendations for a more authentically inclusive vision of parental advocacy. The authors provide a cultural-historical view of the conflation of racism, classism, and ableism that has left a deeply…

This article draws parallels between the concept of "Black lives matter" and the efforts of caregivers to advocate for the value of the lives of their children who have disabilities. The authors identify three key concepts that undergird their argument: first, the concept of systemic bias as built in to the hierarchical valuing of…

The "Brown" decision laid the foundation for accountability provisions in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1997, 2004) that require reporting of overrepresentation of students of color in special education. This article examines the issues surrounding this equity-focused legal reform that prioritized disproportionate…

Multicultural education generally seeks to challenge processes that reproduce inequality, whereas special education sometimes creates standards of normality and separate systems that reflect larger social inequities. A social reconstruction approach envisions a single, unified system of education for all in which staffing, administration, and…