Rumour has it: the impact of maternal talk on primary school choice for children diagnosed with autism

Abstract

This article explores the pivotal role of rumour in shaping primary school choice decisions for parents of children diagnosed with autism. Drawing on semistructured interviews with 22 mothers conducted in Sydney, Australia, this study points to the varied functions of grapevine knowledge about schools gleaned in diverse contexts, including early intervention settings, support groups and neighbourhood communities. Parents, especially mothers, provide one another with pragmatic information about schools as well as advice on how the education 'system' works. They also repeat 'horror' stories of bullying incidents and social exclusion that have a powerful affective force. Educational sociologists have referred to this as 'hot' knowledge. These data demonstrate the need for more detailed analyses of hot knowledge in understanding how families of children diagnosed with autism make choices between segregated and mainstream education options, as well as deciding on particular schools or classrooms within the various sectors of the education market. In studying these processes, we gain a better understanding of how mothers negotiate multiple forms of knowledge during periods of school transition and of the importance of this process in forging maternal identity. The qualitative research presented helps us to conceptualise broader processes of social inclusion and exclusion experienced by these families.

Choosing a secondary school for young people on the autism spectrum: a multi-informant study

“…It was just a hard decision to make". All parents reported gaining advice from other parents ("on the grapevine"; see Lilley, 2015;Ball & Vincent, 1998). They also visited the schools to talk to teachers and SEN staff and to "get a feel" for the environment.…”

Shopping for schools: parents of students with disabilities in the education marketplace in Stockholm

“…It is more trustworthy, delivers knowledge about topics of importancewhich the cold knowledge may not providesuch as student behaviour and wellbeing. The concept of hot knowledge has been used to study how mothers of children with autism acquire and use information when choosing primary schools in Australia (Lilley 2015). These concepts will be useful in analysing information acquisition and usage.…”

A Phenomenological Approach to the Cultivation of Expertise: Emergent Understandings of Autism

“…Liu, King, and Bearman () argue that social influence and social diffusion, arguably a form of social contagion, have contributed to the increased prevalence of autism by demonstrating that children who live in close proximity to another child with autism are more likely to receive the diagnosis when other individual and community‐level factors are controlled. Terms such as “grapevining,” “rumors,” and “maternal talk” are increasingly appearing in the literature, in part to capture these exchanges and uptake of information (Ball and Vincent ; Lilley ).…”