Parenting with a Disability or Chronic Illness: An Essential Bibliography

Identified as "the first major anthology by parents with disabilities," this book brings together narratives from 25 Australian parents who identify as Deaf, disabled, or chronically ill, speaking from their hearts on the challenges and joys of parenting with disabilities. A wide variety of conditions are represented, including blindness or vision impairment, Charcot-Marie-Tooth (neurological condition), a degenerative muscle condition, dwarfism, cerebral palsy, fibromyalgia, and many more. This engaging work highlights important first-hand experiences that will help other parents with disabilities to recognize that they are not alone.

This collection of interviews and autobiographical narratives relates to mothers with disabilities and the challenges they face. Personal stories address various stages of parenting from pregnancy and birth through adulthood, shedding new light on the impact of parental disabilities on children and encouraging family dialog. This work sits slightly between a personal narrative and an academic work, but it largely uses plain language and should be accessible to most readers.

While parenting is not the focus of this entire collection, one contribution in particular from Jessica Slice offers a first-hand perspective from a mother with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

This anthology by disabled women on the subject of parenting describes, for example, the fight to become pregnant in the face of prejudice from the medical profession and how children can learn the benefits of having a parent who is different. Historical context is included regarding the use eugenics to control the bodies and reproduction of women with disabilities. This work could be considered academic in some respects, but we've chosen to highlight it here because of its documentation of personal experience.

Author Sarah Kovac shares her story of arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC), a disability that impacts motor skills. Kovac affords the reader an unfiltered look into her life and the insecurities she and her family faced and how they were able to move forward though religion. Christianity is the backbone of this text, as Kovac emphasizes how her religion helped her accept her disability and thrive as a parent, and therefore its appeal may be greater or lesser for different readers.