Circo, maroma y teatro: Single mothers in Ciudad Juarez closing the educational gaps for their children with intellectual disabilities.

Abstract

In Ciudad Juárez, as in the rest of Mexico, children with intellectual disabilities face innumerable systemic barriers, some of them at the educational level. Given that a prevailing culture of machismo shapes gender expectations in this country, it is usually the mothers who assume the responsibility of finding and navigating the scarce services available to their children with disabilities. Through testimonio methodology, this qualitative study explores the intersections of gender, motherhood, border, socioeconomic class, marital status and disability of children. This work portrays the testimonios of three single mothers, who share their experiences regarding the measures they have had to take in order to bridge the educational gaps that their children have faced across educational settings.