Parenting with disability
Parents with disability face unique barriers when raising children, including societal barriers, outdated stereotypes, and lack of accessible resources and supports.
Parents with disability often face discrimination, some people may assume that having a disability affects someone’s ability to be a competent parent.
Though, parents with disability are highly capable and bring unique strengths to parenting. Many of the skills they’ve developed in navigating a world not always designed for them—like creativity, adaptability, ingenuity, and problem-solving—make them exceptional parents. These qualities, combined with the same deep love and care that all children need, equip parents with disabilities to foster a nurturing and supportive environment.
Accessible tools and resources, such as adaptive parenting equipment, support networks, and inclusive policies, can greatly benefit parents with disability. Many of these parents develop creative solutions to navigate daily tasks, and their children often grow up with a strong sense of empathy and resilience.
In Australia, more than 15 percent of households have at least one parent with a disability. Parents can have a wide range of disabilities, including but not limited to, physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental health conditions. Some of the common types of disabilities that parents might identify with include having a physical disability, being Autistic, blind, d/Deaf, having limb difference or an intellectual disability. Parents may also have mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia, or a chronic health condition like arthritis, ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) or epilepsy.
The barriers that parents with disability face
Physical Barriers: Lack of accessible housing, parks, and public spaces can make it difficult for parents with physical disabilities to navigate with their children, especially for wheelchair users. For example, homes without ramps, bathrooms that are not accessible, or playgrounds without adapted equipment, or raised edging.
Attitudinal Barriers: Negative stereotypes or misunderstandings about disability can lead to biased assumptions, such as doubting the parenting abilities of people with disability. This bias can impact how they’re treated by healthcare providers, in child and family health settings, and even family members, causing undue stress and anxiety.
Lack of Accessible Parenting Resources: Parenting classes, support groups, local community, and resources are often not designed with disabled parents in mind. For instance, parents who are blind may face challenges if there are no accessible materials in braille, and Deaf parents may struggle without an Auslan interpreter.
Legal and Custody Barriers: Parents with disability can face discrimination in family law, where biases may affect custody decisions. In some cases, disability is unfairly used as a reason to question a parent’s competence. In Australia, 60 per cent of parents with intellectual disability will have their kids taken by the state.
Economic Barriers: Many parents with disability face costs for adaptive equipment, medical care, and accessible transportation, which can put financial strain on families. Unfortunately, the NDIS does not always cover adaptive equipment for parenting.
Support Service Barriers: Health services may not accommodate the specific needs of disabled parents. For example, mental health support for parents with disabilities may be limited, and physical health services may not offer accessible prenatal or postnatal care.
Social Isolation: Due to physical inaccessibility, lack of accessible transportation, or limited understanding from others, some parents with disability may feel isolated from social and community activities.
Lack of support: One of the biggest barriers that parents with disability face, especially parents with intellectual disability, is lack of support. Often, we expect parents to be autonomous, to parent alone without the required supports and education. In these instances, we are setting these parents up to fail.
Addressing perinatal depression and anxiety in the disability community is essential for ensuring the well-being of expectant and new parents and their families. Parents with disability may already face unique physical, emotional, and social challenges. Mental health conditions that arise during parenthood can intensify these difficulties. Due to stigma and misconception, disabled parents may feel additional pressure to “prove” their parenting abilities, potentially discouraging them from seeking help for depression and anxiety.
Unique challenges for parents with disability
Parents with disabilities often experience intense pressures from multiple sources, each creating unique challenges.
Family pressure can arise from relatives who may worry about the parent’s capacity to care for a child due to misunderstandings about disability.
Society pressure includes societal biases and stereotypes that cast doubt on the parenting abilities of people with disability. These misconceptions can lead to scrutiny and judgement from the public, and parents may feel they must “prove” their competence constantly. This pressure can be isolating and exhausting.
Medical pressure is also significant. Healthcare providers might focus more on a parent’s disability than on routine conception, pregnancy and postpartum needs, causing parents to feel less supported in their parenting role. Moreover, fear of discrimination within the medical system may discourage parents from seeking help, intensifying the challenges they face. Statistically this happens more when the parents’ disability may be genetically passed onto the child. Often disability is seen as a deficit, instead of in a neutral or positive way.
Seeking Help: when and how?
For parents with disability, seeking help can be vital. Recognising when professional help is needed is the first, often challenging, step. Feelings of overwhelm, prolonged stress, or mental health concerns like postpartum depression are strong indicators that outside support would be beneficial. Identifying these signs early allows parents to prevent issues from escalating.
However, accessible options for support are essential, as many health services may not automatically accommodate disabled parents.
It’s important to seek professionals or support groups that are accessible and ‘Disability Aware’ like wheelchair-accessible spaces, having Auslan interpreters, or accessible information including resources in Easy English, Braille, audio and larger text formats. Inclusive support enables parents to find assistance comfortably and without fear of discrimination, empowering them to care for their families.
Building a support network
Every parent needs a support network around them, for parents with disability this is vital.
There are many social media groups that provide parents with disability support and connection, including the Disabled Parenting Project and Disabled Mum Group.
Other services and advocacy groups include:
· Specialised Occupational Therapists
· Positive Powerful Parents - https://positivepowerfulparents.com.au/
· Women with Disabilities Victoria - https://www.wdv.org.au/
· Women with Disabilities Australia – https://wwda.org.au/
· People with Disability Australia – https://pwd.org.au/
· VALID – https://valid.org.au/
· Disability Maternity Care - https://www.dmcsupport.au/
· Women with Individual Needs Clinic – Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne
