Made to mediate: Asian American sibling brokering and institutional co-optation in special education

This autoethnography examines the experiences of a 1.5th generation Asian American sibling broker navigating the K-12 special education system alongside a brother with autism and Korean-speaking immigrant parents. Drawing on eight years of reflective data and guided by AsianCrit and DisCrit, this study traces how race, language, and disability intersect to shape the author’s positioning within institutional processes. Narratives reveal two interconnected dynamics: first, how cultural and linguistic barriers within special education displaced institutional responsibility onto the sibling broker; and second, how the broker’s bilingualism and relational positioning were co-opted by the institution to manage family resistance and secure compliance with pre-determined decisions. Together, these dynamics illuminate how participation in special education can appear collaborative while systematically marginalizing historically marginalized families at the intersection of identity markers. This study contributes to emerging scholarship on sibling brokers and extends DisCrit and AsianCrit frameworks to special education family engagement.