I am just posting on here in the hope that there are other parents in a similar position to mine who could offer some support and advice. I just thought it would be nice to get a supportive thread going for physically disabled people who are currently experiencing the joys and challenges of parenting young children as it is not a topic I regularly see discussed on here.
I am completely blind and have restricted mobility due to juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, I have been blind since birth and was diagnosed with rheumatoid as a toddler.
My non-disabled husband and I have a wonderful seven-month-old baby girl who is our whole world and we feel extremely fortunate to have been blessed with her.
I always knew that parenting would pose extra challenges for me, over and above the usual ones most parents encounter, and we did give the matter serious consideration before we decided to have a baby. There are aspects of parenthood which are difficult or impossible for me to manage unaided but I have an excellent suport network of family and friends around me, my husband is an amazing dad and our daughter is absolutely thriving and is extremely happy, curious and sociable. She is the first baby to be born into either mine or my husband's families for quite some time so is the centre of a great deal of adult attention.
We attend activities and baby groups with her most days which is good as she enjoys being around other babies and is nice for me as I get to mix with other mums. I have friends with children but they are all much older so it's good to make friends with mums with similarly aged babies. I have already met lots of lovely mums at the groups we attend and we've started meeting up outside the groups and classes too. However, I'm still yet to meet any other severely physically disabled parents at any of these groups, though I'm never made to feel out of place and the organisers and other mums really do go out of their way to include us for which I'm very grateful.
So far, our experience has been so positive, we haven't received any negative comments either from healthcare or social care professionals or from new people we meet, which is something I was a little anxious about. I knew friends and family would be supportive but I was and still am a little worried about the way strangers may react.
I am aware that things may change as our baby grows up, starts school, etc. but, so far, all is great, thank god.
Our baby is on the verge of crawling which is qite scary but I guess we'll just have to brace ourselves for that!
I guess I was just hoping that e could get a conversation going on here between other disabled parents with young children, swap tips and advice, share experiences and generally offer each other support. Thanks for reading.