The Depiction of Mothers with Intellectual Disability: Critical Discourse Analysis of Parenting Capacity Assessments

The negative construction of parenting with an intellectual disability has been ostensive in society for decades. One of the ways in which this construction is sustained is through texts that legitimize ableist ideologies. The aim of this study was to use critical discourse analysis of parenting capacity assessments to identify the ways in which mothers with intellectual disability (ID) are constructed and how this construction was used to make decisions in their lives. Four discursive patterns were identified: mothers with ID as deficient, damaged, and defensive, professionals know best, appearing to be bad mothers and love does not conquer all. The results of this study have implications for social justice scholarship.