When Inclusion Relies on Families: Capital Mobilisation and Private Support for Students with SLD in a Formally Inclusive System

This article examines how families of students with Specific Learning Disabilities and, in some cases, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder navigate the Swiss education system in the Italian-speaking region of Ticino. Drawing on six in-depth interviews with mothers and informed by Bourdieu’s theory of capital, the study analyses how families mobilise economic, cultural, and social capital to address perceived limitations in school-based support, particularly through private tutoring. Despite formal commitments to inclusive education, participants describe institutional support as insufficient in terms of intensity, continuity, and individualisation. The analysis highlights ambivalent patterns of home–school communication and shows that access to individualised support often depends on families’ capacity to mobilise resources. While these strategies may be effective at the individual level, they point to processes through which educational inequalities may be reinforced by unequal access to capital. The article concludes by discussing implications for inclusive education policies and support provision.