Family

From parenting, to caregiving, to understanding who we are, these pieces focus on navigating family dynamics and disability.

A photo of Liam sitting in his wheelchair on a bus, holding his daughter in his lap.

Cripping the Folks: A Disabled Father’s Reflections and Advice

Disability fell on me like a piano from a great height. I was first diagnosed with a rare, genetic, progressive neuromuscular disorder at 16. I had no friends or family who had a disability—or at least no one who identified…

Photo of Heather and her two children, both with ice cream on their faces.

Who’s Missing From Conversations About School Accessibility? Disabled Parents.

“Mommy, you’re coming to my robotics presentation right?” my son asked. My son had been in an after-school robotics class for the last ten weeks and they were doing a “big presentation” on the last day of class. My son,…

A gray-toned photo of a person hunched over.

My Family’s Normalization of Pain Made Me Believe I Wasn’t Strong

My three little toes on the outer sides of my feet curl inward so that when I walk I sometimes step on them. They look like calloused half moons. The skin is red and blistered. My body has adapted to…

Parenting Without Pity: Resource Video Trailer

#ParentingWithoutPity is a storytelling project where disabled parents offer compassionate and frank advice and guidance to non-disabled parents of disabled children. We want parents to celebrate their disabled children for who they are and to learn from disabled parents who…

Photo of parent and child Laura and Wren Reeve

Two Generations Reflect on Life Before and After the Americans with Disabilities Act

The following is a conversation about attitudes, access, and ableism before and after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) between Laura and Wren Reeve, mother and offspring, aged 48 and 19. Both have multiple chronic illnesses (between …

Photo of a woman in a blue jumpsuit standing at a podium on stage, speaking. She is looking up at the lights.

I’m Not Sorry If My Disability Makes You Uncomfortable

I spent the first 30 years of my life doing everything I could to not let people know I couldn’t see things. I ordered the same things at the fast food restaurant, I got dropped off a block away so nobody knew that my parents were driving me, I didn’t follow my dream to study medicine or be a scientist.

Photo of Debra Kahn and her two children with their arms around each other, smiling.