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This critical autoethnographic article with academic friends explores the complex territory of disability from a strengths-based, inclusive perspective. The article centres on the experiences of a mother and educator (the lead author), who continues to navigate the disability landscape, which is encumbered with deficit views. The curated narratives (or vignettes) presented hereafter, focus on specific educational experiences and challenges related to perceptions of disability and "othering" that threaten to exclude. Each narrative reveals the lead author's direct experiences of alienation and her need to develop a strong sense of fierceness to protect and secure the right to an equitable, inclusive education for her "othered" child. The authors analyse each story using emic and etic perspectives utilising ideas drawn from Lévinas' notion of alterity and his ethics of encounter, as well as critical discourse analysis to bring attention to the deficit language. Collectively, the narratives and the analyses aim to bring critical awareness to the lived experiences of this mother and educator and identify the deficit mindsets that affected her so profoundly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this autoethnographic article we focus on the issues of "disability" and "inclusive education" and the challenges of being positive and affirming in this area of research and practice. As a teacher, I (Alina) continue to encounter regularly the dominant deficit view of "disability," in spite of the extensive body of literature that advocates for the rights of people with disabilities as well as the benefits of inclusive education best built on strength-based thinking. The autoethnographic methodology allowed me to explore my experiences as an educator and reflect on specific events, presented through four vignettes that capture how my beliefs and values as an educator have formed over time. Throughout the article, I work closely with two academic colleagues (Ed and Jane), who become my critical friends, as I travel through this personal and professional journey that includes emotional reaction, reflection and academic analysis. I also engage with the emerging field of strength-based approaches to disability, as well as the importance of dialogue and justice, on an individual and professional level, with the aim of empowerment for students and teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]