Parents Negotiating Change

Abstract

This article explores the views and experiences of schooling among parents of children with autism from middle-income families in urban India. A total of 18 parents with children attending private mainstream schools in Kolkata were interviewed about their school choice, interactions with the school and perceptions regarding their child’s schooling. The findings position parents as strategic agents, who actively negotiate a range of obstacles, resolve dilemmas and handle tensions to ensure their child’s admission and continuity in school. It was clear that parents shared a precarious and fragile relationship with the school. While parents were, on the face of it, positive about the school, parental accounts show how the school had not made any significant changes to accommodate the needs of their child. The article concludes by reflecting on the complexities inherent in these findings and questions why these agentic middle-class parents who could be the impetus of greater change seemed rather limited in the ways in which they sought the school to change to accommodate their child with disability.