This changes everything: a critical reflection on the impact of internalized ableist constructs on becoming a disabled mother

Abstract

The lived experiences of women with disabilities within their mothering role have received little attention in the literature. Even more scant is the perspective of women who become disabled after entering into motherhood. This ethnographic study documents the experiences of a mother, professional, and international researcher who is catapulted into the disableist world and is propelled to suddenly negotiate her newly appointed identities. This critical reflection leads to exposing the internalized ableist discourses and provides the terrain for a resistance identity based on character strengths, resiliency, and purpose. It centers around developing an identity based on mothering within an inter-dependency model. This study contributes to the fields of disability studies, mothering, and positive psychology.