Transforming My Disability Awareness: An Autoethnography on Mentoring Children with Disabilities at a Community Child Center

Existing research on disability perception has largely concentrated on developing and evaluating awareness programs, which has limited deeper investigations into the nature of perception itself. Given that perception is a complex, subjective concept shaped by individual-environment interactions, there is a need for research that thoroughly explores personal experiences and transformations. This study uses autoethnography—a qualitative method applying self-narrative to understand personal experiences within a sociocultural context—to examine shifts in the primary researcher’s perceptions and emotions toward disability. These shifts occurred through mentoring a child with a disability at a community child center. The findings uncover two main themes: ‘reflection,’ with sub-categories of ‘fear and relief,’ ‘condescending superiority,’ and ‘powerlessness as an educator’; and ‘realization,’ subdivided into ‘from object to being,’ ‘from defect to difference,’ and ‘from despair to possibility.’ Based on these findings, the researchers discuss personal growth and transformation and offer suggestions for improving societal perceptions of disability.