Transcript of, "Parenting Without Pity trailer", produced by Rooted in Rights. 

[NARRATOR]: Rooted in Rights  presents, 
"Parenting Without Pity". 

-  If I would have had parents
that were aware of,

or fighting for disability rights,

it would've taken me less time to

realize that like,
I could be a mom, or,  you know?

- I've always felt very lucky to have been
raised by a disabled mother.

Nobody ever stopped to consider
how awesome it is.

- I hated what the wheelchair meant
for some social situations,

but I didn't hate being disabled.

I didn't really care that my legs didn't work.

- I would hope that parents
would find a way to

separate out what they perceive
to be the negative aspects

of a kid's disability with their identity.

- We have to change that culture for our kids.

There's still this gigantic culture of shame
and embarrassment around disability.

We need to make that go away.

- Questioning a child too much about 
what they can and can't do

can be sending certain mesages.

- Yeah treat their disability as one of the
many traits that makes up who they are.

-You will always be the parent
of a child who is disabled.

At some point you're going
to have to step back.

- Raise them to know that they can do

whatever they want to do.

They might be needing to do it differently

then what they standard is.

- You've got to focus on the individual.

Building them up, teaching them
that disability is not a bad thing,

connecting them with adults with disabilities.

- The most important thing for parents
to truly understand disability,

is to have continuous positive exposure to
disabled people, you know?

I think, projects like this, the constant
exposure to disability in meaningful ways,

can go a long way.

[NARRATOR]: The Parenting Without Pity project is a storytelling resource for people with disabilities to help educate parents of disabled children.

To learn more and to share your story, visit
RootedinRights.org/Parents.

END OF TRANSCRIPT