This morning, I’m listening to an Ouch! BBC podcast, and they’ve just come to the part about the pressure put on disabled parents (at about 35:00).
Some disabled parents get their abilities questioned by professionals or laypeople, making presumptions.
[From parents to mum in the wheelchair with her son in the NICU:]
“Is he yours?”
As if a disabled person couldn’t possibly be a parent due to their condition.
The mum also had some great ideas for dealing with baby: if you want him to crawl into his bedroom at sleep time, Mum crawls into the room, and then he follows her. What a great idea!
The mum on the show recounted the trouble she had with getting an epidural, because her condition meant that leaning over meant she would collapse. The anesthetist started arguing with her, so she said, “Time for you to get fucking creative!” ♥
Eventually, she did get the epidural, after more arguing. Staff chastised her for swearing.
They also argued with her about how she transferred herself from bed to her chair, and nurses yelled at her for doing things the way she does them instead of blindly following instructions. Patients are supposed to be sheep, right?
Overall, this show gave me some great ideas for when my husband and I have kids, and also reminds me that I’m not the only one who goes through these sorts of things. When you’re disabled, you have to get fucking creative. So why can’t other people do the same?
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