1. Brain injury
Week 9 March 2016

2. TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

6. Local service providers

7. Parenting with a disability
Week 9 March 2016

8. Issues in starting a family
Family “permission” to marry and leave home
Assumptions about their inability to be a good parent
Finding a partner
Fertility problems (including forced sterility)
Genetic counseling & encouragement to abort
Medically difficult pregnancies or delivery
Medication use during pregnancy

9. More issues in starting a family
The impact of hormonal & weight changes
Access to quality, experienced medical care
Medical providers’ fears of what-could-go-wrong
Fears & guilt about passing a disability on to your child
Increased chances for pre-term delivery & C-section delivery
Fears about infant mortality
Risk for post-partum depression
Loss of child custody

10. Issues in raising children
Breastfeeding
Income
Discipline
Parenting skills, abuse, neglect
Physical abilities & physical responsibilities (OT?)
Explaining your condition to your child
Participation in school events

11. More issues in raising children
Isolation
Prejudice; teasing
Lifespan
Lack of specific support services
Ability to assist children or participate in their education or activities
Guardians / care in case of parental death or incapacitation

12. Issues in getting old
Illness, fatigue and illness interfering with abilities to parent
Children’s responsibilities for aging parents with disabilities

13. Parenting, with a disability
It is normal for all of us to desire intimacy & family.
All parents are scared. All parents have strengths and weaknesses.
Disabilities are normal and common.
More and more people with disabilities are raising families.
The vast majority of women with disabling conditions appear to have healthy babies.

14. Nearly 1 in 10 U.S. kids have a parent who is disabled, according to the National Council on Disability.
In the United States alone, more than 8 million families include at least one parent that has a disability.

15. Parenting, with a disability
Individual circumstances (health, family, support system) and the nature of the disability (type, severity) probably matter more than whether or not a parent has a disability.
There is no reliable evidence that people with a disability are better or worse parents than people without disabilities.
Service providers should actively assist families in finding intensive long-term support to prepare for and assist with the challenges of raising a family.

16. What help is there? Peer role models Legal aid Health care
Service coordination
Mental health counseling
Play groups for children and parents
Crisis intervention services
In-home visits to teach parenting skills and to assess parenting competency
Help with transportation, shopping and money management
Child care, early intervention services
Counseling for substance abuse and other addictions
Basic academic education for parents

17. For more information: https://www. ncd

18. Entitlement programs for Americans and Washingtonians with disabilities
Week 9 March 2016