Resistance, Persistence and Resilience of Black Families Raising Children with Autism

Elizabeth R. Drame is a professor in Teaching and Learning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She prepares special educators and coordinates the Autism Spectrum Disorders Certificate Program. She is a co-editor of Black Participatory Research: Power, Identity and the Struggle for Justice in Education. Drame received her Ph.D. in Learning Disabilities from Northwestern University.Tara Adams earned a Data Entry certificate at Milwaukee Area Technical College. She works in disability advocacy and served as a family advocate for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Wisconsin Promise Program, helping families and youth receiving Social Security Supplemental Income to improve post-secondary outcomes.Veronica R. Nolden served as a special education paraprofessional, autism advocate and volunteer at a local hospital. She is a cofounder of the Milwaukee Urban Autism Summit and serves as a speaker on disability related topics with a specific focus on autism.Judy M. Nardi is currently a Senior Pharmacy Technician. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in African American Literature from Loyola University in Chicago, IL.

• List of Illustrations – Acknowledgments – Introduction: ¡Berta no ha muerto, Berta se ha multiplicado! Paving – Chapter One: Preserving the Affective Being: Reconsiderations of Affect from a Non-Western Perspective – Chapter Two: Indigenous Ecologies: The Relevance of Affect in Ecofeminist Movements – Chapter Three: On Violent Affects: A History of Extractivism and Criminalization in Central America – Chapter Four: From Outrage to Resistance: Social Movements in Honduras – Chapter Five: Affective Solidarity and a Politics of Care: Reflection and Action Beyond Borders – Chapter Six: On Mourning and Hope: A Transformational Path Toward Social Justice – Conclusion: Utopia: An Affective Work in Progress – Index.

“Written from the rich and loving, frustrated and joyous intersection where gender, disability and race intersect, documenting the barriers, the moments of laughter, the resistance and wit of Black mothers and fathers raising children with autism, crafted through collaborative inquiry and participatory passions, The Resistance, Persistence and Resilience of Black Families Raising Children with Autism offers a beautiful GPS for navigating impossible systems, loving our children, battling the grotesque and banal forms of racism and ableism, resisting and joining with other Black families in fierce solidarities. This book is a story of race and motherhood, critical disability (in)justice, collaborative inquiry and a deeply complex and honest journey toward ‘just’ parenting. Filled with care and fears, courage and subversion, advocacy and sweet collaborations, we see the power of Black parents undeterred, mothers writing together and building a different tomorrow for children who deserve nothing less than ‘just’ childhoods.”—Michelle Fine, Distinguished Professor of Critical Psychology and Urban Education; Founding Faculty member of The Public Science Project, The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY); author of Just Research in Contentious Times: Widening the Methodological Imagination (2017)