Sometimes I wonder, “Do I do this as good as my able-bodied counterparts?”
Being a parent is a real learning experience. I told myself, “My insecurities about my disability are not going to hold me back from being a good mom to my kids.”
Transcript
Mai Thor: People have the idea that people with disabilities don't know how to be a parent. Can they be parents? Are they able to find a partner that would even want to start a family with them? Right?
Host: This is Keep Moving Forward.
George H.W. Bush: Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.
Host: Exploring the legacy and promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Mai Thor: My name is Mai Thor. I have polio. I think anybody with a disability is going to tell you that they're going to be self-conscious about something. I was always sort of thinking: Am I good enough? Do I do this as good as my able-bodied counterparts?
But when I had my kids, I couldn't be self-conscious anymore. You know, I couldn't hold back. If my kids wanted to go to a waterpark, I took them. And I think it's been a real learning experience, you know, being a parent, trying to really just tackle some of those issues that I have as a woman with a disability. You know, I told myself: my insecurities about my disability are not going to hold me back from being a good mom to my kids.
Host: Keep Moving Forward is supported by The Minnesota Council on Disability, The Minnesota Humanities Center and the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, online at Ampers.org.