"Agarro Lo Mejor de Dos Mundos": Transfronteriza Mothers of Autistic Children as Nepantleras in a Rural U.S./Mexico...

Transfronteriza mothers of autistic children navigating rural U.S.-Mexico border service systems face compounding systemic oppressions shaped by geography, language, culture, and immigration status. Despite growing attention to disparities in autism service access, transnational and rural dimensions of caregiving remain understudied.

This study aimed to understand the experiences of systemic oppression and resistance among transfronteriza mothers seeking autism services in a rural U.S.-Mexico border region.

Data were collected through Ecocultural Family Interviews with 13 transfronteriza mothers. Interviews captured cultural pathways including everyday routines, cultural activities, values, and family goals. Analysis was guided by the five faces of oppression and nepantla frameworks, which together enabled a nuanced examination that resists deficit-resilience binaries by recognizing both structural disparities and maternal resistance strategies (Anzaldúa & Keating, 2002; Ayón, et al., 2017).

Four main themes reflected mothers' experiences navigating services across the border: (1) Systemic Barriers and the Weight of Oppression, (2) Isolation is Compounded by the Border, (3) Binational Autism Service Constellations as Resistance, and (4) Reclaiming Language and Culture: Toward a New Reality. Findings reveal how mothers resist oppression by constructing cross-border ecosystems that integrate U.S. and Mexican autism services, medical care, community resources, and family support.

Fostering binational resources and collaborative institutional relationships on both sides of the border is essential to supporting transfronterizx children and their families. These findings have implications for autism service providers, early intervention systems, and cross-national research.