Mothering Disabled Children in Early Childhood: Institutional Reproduction of the Standard North American Family

This paper considers Smith’s ‘standard North American family’ (SNAF; 2005; 1999; 1993) to understand how early childhood systems uphold and reproduce gendered spaces of care for disabled children that also reify ableist, racist, and classist constructions of family and mothering. We present findings from an analysis of 25 mother and caregiver interviews over a 6–9 year time period, through which we have mapped the interactions that families have in the context of seeking support, education, and care for their disabled children. We draw on the scholarship of Black feminism and Critical Disability studies to shape our analysis of the gendered, raced, and classed work of families, and the institutional expectation on mothers to do the work of gaining access, and the lack of collective responsibility for all young children.