Disabled parents: rockstars on wheels

Every time I’ve asked disabled parents in a wheelchair if they were ever worried they could still be a good parent, they’ve all said the same thing: All kids need is love, and they are so right about this. Love makes the world go around.

And these awesome four videos, all showing paralyzed fathers and paralyzed mothers wheel-deep in parenting, prove you can still be a GREAT mom or dad and be in a wheelchair. They also show that kids really don’t give a you-know-what about the whole disability thing.

In the first video, meet Steve Laux, winner of the Christopher Reeve Foundation’s Best Dad on Wheels Contest in 2011. He’s a 35 year old C5-6 quad who works FT, but he’s still the father of twin girls (who are toddlers) and another girl around five years old. In this video, watch him play with his brood and talk about how he never expected parenting to bring him so much unexpected joy and (tear-jerker; get ready for it), how he couldn’t live without his wife and kids. Great guy!

The second video comes from a mom on our site, BernieNolan. She’s a paralyzed mom  (T10 para) and had her first baby, Jasper, last year. Since his birth she’s made dozens of videos showing how she takes care of him. In this video, watch how she picks him up when he’s 10 months old (with him on the ground, from her wheelchair). He crawls over to her feet, then she grabs his onesie to pull him up on her lap. For some of you worry-warts, you may think her method isn’t safe, but she has it completely under control (we all know how when you have a SCI, you’ll do whatever you can to be fully independent).

The third video shows Kelly-Marie Stewart, a 28 year old actress from the UK (she stars in the soap opera Hollyoaks). She became disabled after contracting Guillian-Barre syndrome in her 20’sa and is partially paralyzed from the waist down (she can walk on crutches though). And she hasn’t let it stop her from pursuing her career, or be a mom. In this video, watch her talk about what it means to be a “mum in a wheelchair” and what it means to be able to dispel misconceptions of what a parent should ‘look’ like. She is actively involved in the very cool “Invisible Mums Campaign,” which you can learn more about here.

The last video is one of my favorites. It shows high quad Ron Heagy, a motivational speaker, painter and paralyzed dad, painting his six year old daughter’s Gracie’s toenails – using his mouth. Sometimes you have to use all you got (even if your deck is limited). He rocks. This video also shows how kids really don’t care about your disability, as long as they get some semblance of what they’re looking for that is (in this case – painted toes).

We may not be able to walk or do a lot of things with a SCI, but I LOVE that parenting is still possible as you can see from our awesome examples of disabled parents! And for some, even if they’re not sure about having kids, just having great examples of paralyzed fathers and mothers demonstrating that they can do it and do it well despite their injuries, is a huge hope-builder.

How have you figured out clever ways to get around your disability when parenting? Know any other examples of amazing disabled parents?

Watch these videos

– Steve Laux, winner of Christopher Reeve’s Best Dad on Wheels 2011

– How to pick up a 10 month old in a wheelchair

– Kelly-Marie Stewart talks about being a mom

– High quad painting his daughter’s toenails with mouth