Sliding Doors—Opening Our World

In this article I share stories I have lived alongside my son, Matthew, who is challenged by multiple disabilities, particularly in the domain of expressive speech. Narrative inquiry shaped a space to attend and inquire into stories. The stories reveal the tension between an identity given and an identity continually created in relationship. Specifically the stories show that the “fix and serve” tradition in the education of children with disabilities can blank out attention to identity formation and agency of persons with disabilities who are making their way in the world as we all do. The stories offer consideration of the significance of imaginative relational play and improvisation for shaping participatory spaces from which evolving identities are continually created. I narrate stories, configured from my perspective as Matthew's mother, and I imagine ways to reshape ever more responsive educative landscapes for people with disabilities and for those in relation to them.