Introduction

Over recent decades, studies have researched disabled families’ experiences of special education (Shah, 1995; Kalyanpur et al., 2000; Hess et al., 2006), and have advocated for special education research to be more inclusive and representative of all ethnic-minority experiences. However, research into ethnic-minority disabled families can still be essentialised and reduced to cultural and language barriers. Garcia and Ortiz (2013) posit that research with minority families can be homogenising, with literature often recommending that professionals acquire cultural competencies and use professional interpreters when interacting with minority families. However, Garcia and Ortiz (2013) suggest that special education research and practice must also consider the complex and constantly-shifting contexts influencing ethnic-minorities’ disability experiences. My research paper reinforces Garcia and Ortiz’s stance on utilising an intersectional lens when researching with minority families, and reports the findings of my Doctoral research which explored how British-Pakistani mothers support their child with SEND in the context of broader social inequalities.

Literature Review

There is a higher and increasing prevalence of PMLD amongst British-Pakistani and British-Bangladeshi families (Strand and Lindsay, 2009). Some studies suggest these groups are three times more likely to have severe disabilities (Emerson and Hatton, 2004), which has been attributed to consanguinity and material deprivation.

Health and social care studies (Shah, 1995; Bywaters et al., 2003; Hatton et al., 2004; Croot et al., 2008) have undoubtedly increased the knowledgebase on British South Asian familial experiences of SEND, with several studies maintaining that South Asian families still face difficulties accessing provisions. Hatton et al., (2004), who studied 136 families across England, found the lack of same-sex carers helped explain why few South Asian families used formal care; however, parents also highlighted language barriers, culturally-inappropriate services, and discrimination.

However, these studies failed to consider the heterogeneity of South Asians, or the broader intersecting contexts affecting these families. My research attempted to address this gap.

Research Inquiry:

My paper explores how British-Pakistani mothers navigate social divisions and contexts to support their child with SEND. It examines how,

How do broader influences like culture, religion, gender, and immigrant history affect their experience of supporting their child?

This question explores whether maternal attitudes towards various inclusive settings and their experiences of their child’s education and provisions were influenced by their religio-cultural, gender and immigrant positioning. I agree with Braidotti (2008) that without analysing the intersecting and competing factors shaping South Asian experiences, the academic discourse will become a ‘Muslim issue’. Examining these broader discourses highlighted how these factors shaped my participants’ interactions with UK SEN provisions.

Theoretical Lens:

I relied on Weber’s Intersectional Framework to help me develop a nuanced understanding of my participants’ multifaceted positionalities. This framework proposes that social divisions constantly change, interacting with the actor’s positioning (Staunces, 2003). Therefore, I explored how historic and social constructs of motherhood, parental involvement, disability, inclusive education, and ethnicity have evolved, and how actors identify with these constructs. Social divisions were found to be interlocked with an individual’s identity and experiences; for instance, a British South Asian mother of a child with SEND cannot separate her experiences as a British South Asian Muslim mother of a child with SEND. However, individuals can experience greater oppression from particular social divisions; racial oppression is more evident for African-American women whereas social-class oppression affects poor Hispanic-American women (Collins, 1993). Weber’s intersectional approach proposes that social divisions are simultaneously expressed, where actors may occupy dominant positions within one experience but subordinate positions in others. This offers hope that oppressed groups may not be oppressed in every aspect of their lives, and in recognising how social divisions create disadvantage they may advocate for more equitable positions.

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