She took her writings and diary entries documenting her daughter’s disability and turns it into both art and advocacy

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio learned to question everything. Her mother had a doctorate in philosophy and taught at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and Ortiz-Rubio was around for the conversations that unfolded in the family’s living room, whether those were between family members or students from the university.

“So, it started there, with knowing how to ask questions, and questioning everything became some of that curiosity that is kind of never ending for philosophers. It became something that I enjoyed, and that’s kind of how they taught me to look at art, as well,” she says. “To question, ‘Hey, what is this artist trying to look at or experiment with or analyze? What questions are they posing?’ That’s what truly sparked my interest in art, being in that realm of philosophy of analyzing and questioning things.”

That curiosity flowed into her parenting, particularly when her daughter was diagnosed with Angelman syndrome, a neuro-genetic disorder that results in intellectual or developmental disability, seizures, issues with balance or fine motor skills, little to no speech, and other symptoms. As their family began navigating her disability, Ortiz-Rubio found that medical and educational professionals were impatient and unkind with her daughter and had begun labeling her child “noncompliant.” They weren’t taking the time to learn or consider th...