And that girl's drumming.
That girl's in a wheelchair.
Yeah, that girl's in a wheelchair.
ELIZA: I have a disability known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth,
which is a neurological condition.
It's a physical disability.
And it's affected by my nervous system not sending
the messages to my brain.
When you have, you know the complexity of being
a parent with a disability, it can make it harder.
But I truly believe that one of the hardest things
is not home life and not being a parent
with a disability in the home,
it's actually what happens outside the home.
I had an idea that I wanted to
tell the stories of parents with disabilities
and this year I was the recipient
of a regional scholarship with the ABC,
which has enabled me to travel around Australia
to tell these stories.
In all of the stacks of parenting books,
there were no mums like me.
That's what I've set out to change in this series.
I went to Hobart to interview Emma and Vaughan Bennison,
who are parents that are blind.
They have two children that are sighted.
They spoke about when the two children were toddlers
and how they added bells to their shoes
so that they knew where they were.
EMMA: The concerns people used to level at us was,
oh you know,
"How are you going to make sure that the baby's clean?"
"How are you going to make sure that
their nappy's changed appropriately, etcetera?"
And you know, that's just very easy to do by feel.
So yeah that, it quickly became clear to me
that that wasn't an issue.
VAUGHAN: So one of the things that I was particularly focused on
was how we were going to find ways and places of changing babies
when, when we're out and about in public,
because I certainly didn't want people to be staring at us,
because I certainly didn't want people to be staring at us, and judging us, and what have you,
and judging us, and what have you,
but I also wanted to make sure that... that my baby was,
was appropriately taken care of.
EMMA: There are times that teachers have assumed
that they need to read to our kids
because we won't be able to, and it's not until I've
pulled out the braille book with the pictures
or whatever it is that they've gone,
"Oh, OK, so that's not an issue."
So it's just lack of exposure really,
and ignorance born of fear that I think we are up against.
ELIZA: I met Carol Taylor, who lives in Queensland.
I felt really honoured when I went into her house
because she's such an open and warm, and friendly person.
- Thank you so much for having me. - You're very welcome. It's a pleasure.
CAROL: Robert and I were newlyweds, and we had just
returned from a weekend away at the Blue Mountains.
And on the way home, early in the morning, we hit black ice,
and the car rolled.
And on the second roll, the roof caved in,
and hit me on the back of the neck,
and instantly severed my spinal cord.
And it left me a quadriplegic paralysed from the chest down,
and with paralysed hands.
And...in that split second my life was forever changed.
She desperately wanted to have children,
and after 15 IVF attempts, her and her husband
ended up deciding to give up on the idea of having children.
And then naturally they fell pregnant with their son.
CAROL: I had another nurse on another occasion ...
when I was having some blood taken, more or less
suggest to me that it was a little bit selfish of me
to have, you know, to pursue this, and "Isn't it hard on him,
and isn't it hard on your husband?"
Almost to make me feel a little bit guilty.
And in those early years, I wasn't strong enough
to stand up and say what I'd say now.
Even though most people wouldn't think
that she'd be able to play with me, being in a wheelchair,
she used her tray as like an area for me to play with my toys
when I was really little.
I've never really known any other life without a disabled mum,
but I find it completely normal,
and I know how to deal with things when
my mum has something wrong.
So I just find it completely normal.
For a very long time, I was confused as
to what to call this series.
I had lots of ideas, but funnily enough I asked Vaughan
you know, what he would say to people that may potentially
question his ability to parent.
And he straight off the bat said, "That we've got this,"
and it really hit home. It resonated with me.
It felt like it was the whole journey of what
the whole series was about.
That in fact, we have totally got this.
Can you hear me, John?
Hey, Eliza. Well, if you're ready, we could start recording.
OK great.