Stigma and discrimination: Perspectives from Mexican and Puerto Rican mothers of children with special needs

The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of stigma-related dis-crimination in 50 Puerto Rican and Mexican single mothers of young childrenwith disabilities. Mothers were interviewed on issues related to raising a child with disabilities. This was a preliminary exploration of the stories mothers told specif-ically related to discrimination. A qualitative analysis of the transcripts revealed clear evidence of discrimination as a result of culture, disability, and a combination of cul-ture and disability. Professionals and strangers were responsible for the majority of the discrimination. Experiences were related to the higher number of interactions with ser-vice providers, lack of English language proficiency, being the solitary caregiver for their child with a disability, their status of “other, ” and the internalization of that status