What it’s Like to Have a Child With a Disability

Fathers day is a joyous day for all the children but sometimes there are some facts to address and truths to hold on with these funny fathers day memes.

We always plan to honor our beloved Daddy with special surprises and gifts but sometimes it’s not always about funny fathers day memes. At times they become stereotyped and cliché. We sometimes have serious issues to address and look into, so that we can prepare for a brighter tomorrow. Have you ever given these typical funny fathers day memes a different thought? Why don’t we take this occasion to raise awareness instead of laughing at these funny fathers day memes that have very little meaning.

Disability is a part of life: We don’t go back from earth the way we came in, we are likely to face some sort of disability in life. We have to realize that fathers with disable children are our real heroes.

Fathers’ roles are changing. So why is it still a big deal that a father chooses to stay at home to raise a disabled child while the mother works outside of the home? Why do fathers bringing their children to the hospital for appointments still get treated as the “second tier” parent? Roles are changing faster than laws, the courts, the medical system, and our employers are, faster than some segments of society can react to. Could we dads of disability and our families help affect change that will benefit not just us, but every family?

Dads of disability should have authentic messages, and help the media and our communities focus on images of unity and reality, not fluff and things that make people think, “They are them, and we are us. Thank goodness I am not them!” Not everyone has the skills to engage media, or the time or means to speak at a statehouse. But all of us have a responsibility to speak up when a child is illegally restrained or controlled in a school setting. To write a letter to the editor and to stand up for others’ children when necessary and not turn a blind eye. When we mobilize our strength publically as men and as dads of disability, it becomes easier to replace the sanitized, happy-assed; inspiration-porn that often masquerades as advocacy for families like ours after editing by an uninspired or uneducated media.

Let’s make it our mission to break all stereotypes regarding this matter, we can break through the expected and trite media memes and encourage the general population to think differently about our families and, in my particular dream, a father’s role in our kinds of families. I dream of getting people to understand that disability can happen in any family of any political or any economic stripe. I dream that we dads of disability will help create and participate in systems in our society where fathers can “do it all” at work and at home in support of our children and spouses (just like moms!). I dream that changes will benefit all kinds of families, whether they have family members with disabilities or not.