- accessible/independent parenting;
- societal attitudes toward parents with disabilities;
- pregnancy, childbirth, and reproductive health issues;
- general issues of child care and child rearing
What do I need to participate in the Parent Empowerment Network?
All you need is access to an E-mail system that allows you to send and receive E-mail to and from the Internet. The Parent Empowerment Network list is a “closed” E-mail listserver, which means that before you can participate, you must first “subscribe” to the list. There is no charge to subscribe.
How do I “Subscribe” to the Parent Empowerment Network?
It’s easy! Just visit the following website:
http://lists.disabledparents.net/listinfo.cgi/parent-empowerment-disabledparents.net
and follow the directions for subscribing. All subscriptions must be approved by the moderator, so it may take some time before you actually begin receiving mail from the group. (Important Note: If your spam filter is set to reject all mail other than from people you already know, you will not be able to participate in the group. You will receive an e-mail from the list owner asking to verify that you wish to join. If you are not able to receive this message due to your spam filter settings, your request will be automatically discarded.)
Our list grows on a daily basis, and as it grows, so does our opportunity to share and learn from each other. Our goal is to create a warm, open environment, where disabled parents can learn that they are not the only disabled parents in the world, and can know that there are more of us out there than the designers of inaccessible cribs and other paraphernalia designed with the nondisabled parent in mind could have ever imagined.
Parenting is Possible!
I have a friend who has just had a child and she has had a real rough time with MS and now her ODSP worker has put a stop on her support. This seems inhuman to me, he has put the brakes on reportedly because he wants the father’s income and the father’s parent’s income information before anything changes. She’s been threatened that if/when support continues that child subsidy/support would be subtracted from her suport. I thought child support and subsidy was for the child and not to be held against the parent? I am so angry and disgusted for this lady that I feel like it must be a Dickens novel. This poor excuse for man asked questions that I feel only a social worker should have the right to ask her! (How will you support your child?) It’s as though they want her to give it up because she’s disabled, putting her in a bind and pulling away her only income because she dared to have a child. This lady and her child need help. Please someone tell me what her rights are and what she can do!?!? On top of that her baby was born on the Jewish New Year – she wa sin hospital for 3 days and has had 3 MS attacks while pregnant and is have a possible flare at present and was made to bring the baby in because she was told they couldn’t believe she had one without seeing it. What happened to showing a record of live birth or something from a doctor?
I have cerebral palsy and recently had to use SSDI and am a former teacher of 17 years. We did one course of IVF without success. We really don’t know what to do because of finances. Hopscotch Adoptions turned us away saying that the Republic of Armenia would reject our petition of adoption beccause of my disablity and that because I am not working for the first time in my life, our income is not high enough for the adoption process. What should I do ? Need direction please!
Hello,
I would like to ask, if someone here knows about some web pages or books or some informations for blind mothers. I can´t find anything and I´m starting to be desperate, because I really try hard to find some advices or just stories. Thanks for help. Marketa