Parents with a disability: Community directory

Community Services & Resources:
Parenting Strategies & Specialised Equipment: Managing Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers

Parents with a disability often need to find different ways of doing things to parents who do not have a disability. This may involve finding a method or strategy for handling a particular problem: for example, communicating with a toddler or physically picking them up when you cannot see them.

In this section parents with disabilities share some of the strategies they have found useful. The ideas listed reflect the personal experience of parents and the methods individuals adopted to address the problems they faced. Since every person’s experience of parenting with a disability will be different, the ideas are suggestions only. Visiting places such as the Independent Living Centre in Brooklyn, the Vision Australia Foundation’s ADAPT Advisory Centre at Kooyong, or the Royal Children’s Hospital Safety Centre is very worthwhile to get further ideas. People are encouraged to explore these and other resource options, some of which are listed in the resources section of this manual.

Some parents with physical and sensory disabilities will find life a bit easier if they use specialist aids and equipment. Since technology is improving all the time, the range of equipment that can help is also continually expanding.

Specialized equipment is an essential tool for parents (especially those with a physical disability) to administer daily parenting tasks.

Tasks such as changing nappies, making up baby bottles and solid feeds, bathing and dressing children is challenging because simple tasks can become time consuming and difficult for parents with a disability. This section contains some of the problems parents with disabilities have faced and some solutions they found useful to make parenting with a disability a bit easier.

Toddlers are very demanding for any parent. Having a disability adds to this challenge, as the baby becomes mobile.

General parenting strategies, by parents with disabilities: Managing Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers

Problem Solution

Bathing: A dad who uses a wheelchair found it hard to bath his active toddler.
Solution: He visited the Yooralla Independent Living Centre who advised him that using the kitchen sink or laundry trough would aid good posture and eliminate the need for awkward arm movements.

Discipline: A dad struggled with communicating and disciplining toddlers from his wheelchair. This was also difficult for a blind mum because they could not see the child.
Solution: The mum and dad both found that using a firm voice was a good way to convey what they wanted the child to do. They also had to be firm but careful not to shout because this could attract attention from neighbours and Child Protection.

Supervision: A mum and dad with cerebral palsy found how quickly babies and toddlers can move out of sight inside the house.
Solution: They went to the Child Safety Centre at the Royal Children’s Hospital who showed them several ways to solve this problem. They purchased a child safety removable gate which was commercially available. After purchasing the gate and materials the mum contacted the local council Home Maintenance Service who were able to fit it to confine the children to one area of the room and keep them out of the kitchen.
They were able to fit safety guards around wall heaters to keep little hands off. They could fit safety latches and other safety items. She found that the cost is subsidised by the government. The Home Maintenance Service will do small jobs and home safety enhancement is top priority under this Home and Community Care Program (See list of Council contacts under Council Services).

Schooling: A blind mum had a daughter about to start Kinder.
Solution: She rang the local council and told the pre-school coordinator that she had a disability and needed a Kinder close to home. The daughter was given a place at the Kinder within walking distance of home. She found she could still help by playing games with the children even though she could not manage kinder duty.

Getting around: A mum who uses an electric scooter to get around wanted to take her daughter to kinder.
Solution: She contacted Technical Aid to the Disabled (TADVIC) in Kew. A TADVIC volunteer constructed a smart two wheeled trailer using an old office chair and wheels donated from Fallshaws set in a wheel frame. Now getting to kinder is just as fun as being there!

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Parenting Strategies & Specialised Equipment - Babies

Parenting Strategies & Specialised Equipment - Managing Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers

Problem	Solution
Bathing: A dad who uses a wheelchair found it hard to bath his active toddler.	Solution: He visited the Yooralla Independent Living Centre who advised him that using the kitchen sink or laundry trough would aid good posture and eliminate the need for awkward arm movements.
Discipline: A dad struggled with communicating and disciplining toddlers from his wheelchair. This was also difficult for a blind mum because they could not see the child.	Solution: The mum and dad both found that using a firm voice was a good way to convey what they wanted the child to do. They also had to be firm but careful not to shout because this could attract attention from neighbours and Child Protection.
Supervision: A mum and dad with cerebral palsy found how quickly babies and toddlers can move out of sight inside the house.	Solution: They went to the Child Safety Centre at the Royal Children’s Hospital who showed them several ways to solve this problem. They purchased a child safety removable gate which was commercially available. After purchasing the gate and materials the mum contacted the local council Home Maintenance Service who were able to fit it to confine the children to one area of the room and keep them out of the kitchen. They were able to fit safety guards around wall heaters to keep little hands off. They could fit safety latches and other safety items. She found that the cost is subsidised by the government. The Home Maintenance Service will do small jobs and home safety enhancement is top priority under this Home and Community Care Program (See list of Council contacts under Council Services).
Schooling: A blind mum had a daughter about to start Kinder.	Solution: She rang the local council and told the pre-school coordinator that she had a disability and needed a Kinder close to home. The daughter was given a place at the Kinder within walking distance of home. She found she could still help by playing games with the children even though she could not manage kinder duty.
Getting around: A mum who uses an electric scooter to get around wanted to take her daughter to kinder.	Solution: She contacted Technical Aid to the Disabled (TADVIC) in Kew. A TADVIC volunteer constructed a smart two wheeled trailer using an old office chair and wheels donated from Fallshaws set in a wheel frame. Now getting to kinder is just as fun as being there!