Care and Gender. Mothers’ Experiences of School Inclusion for Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Abstract

This article analyzes the caregiving experiences of mothers who are involved in the inclusion and support of their children with neurodevelopmental disorders in preschool education and inclusive education settings. A qualitative interpretative methodology with a descriptive scope was employed, using a hermeneutic approach to develop a situated interpretation of mothers’ caregiving experiences. This article aims to provoke critical reflection by questioning the discourse of inclusive education from a gender-based perspective —one that makes visible the oftenoverlooked care work performed by women to secure their children’s right to education. This is to understand that behind the right to and access to education for neurodiverse children, there are caregiving practices carried out by women that are made invisible by the ableist, functional, and welfare-based discourse that prevails in inclusive education.