Welcome to the Center for Parents
The National Research Center for Parents with Disabilities conducts research and provides training and technical assistance to improve the lives of parents with disabilities and their families. We share our findings here on this website. We also offer information sheets, research briefs, and other resources.
Our resources are for parents with disabilities, legal professionals, social workers, and researchers, and cover a variety of topics, including child-welfare law and its effects on parents with disabilities, firsthand narratives from disabled parents about how they raise their children, and advice for professionals working with specific populations of parents with disabilities.
What's Happening at the Center for Parents
Inclusion of Black and Latina Parents With Physical Disabilities in a Qualitative Research Study: A Peer Researcher Training Model
Compared to a small but growing community of Black and Latinx academic researchers with disabilities, there is little inclusion in the research process of non-academic community members with similar intersectional identities. Lurie Institute researchers conducted a qualitative study examining the pregnancy experiences of people from Black/Latinx communities who have physical disabilities that involved training four peer researchers to conduct interviews and analyze the data. This article describes the researchers' approach and suggests how it might offer a model for training peer researchers in qualitative research methodology.
Plain-language summary to come soon!
Two-Part Series on Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Mothers
Now in ASL format!
This research report series from the National Center for Disability & Pregnancy Research describes Lurie Institute research in collaboration with researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School on the pregnancy and postpartum experiences of Deaf and hard-of-hearing mothers.
Access the 2-part series in ASL video format
Carrie Buck Distinguished Fellowship 2024: Robin Wilson-Beattie
The Lurie Institute for Disability Policy hosted a conversation with Carrie Buck Distinguished Fellow Robin Wilson-Beattie and Rebecca Cokley on March 7, 2024 at 5 p.m. ET. In-person and online.
Robin's groundbreaking insights into the intersection of disability, sexuality, healthcare, design, and identity have revolutionized sexual-health education.
📆 Recording of the Keynote Event will be available soon
A New Video Guide Series on Pregnancy Among People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
The National Center for Disability and Pregnancy Research has published a video guide in four segments for women with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities who are preparing to have a baby or thinking about pregnancy, or who have just had a baby.
Learn more and browse the video guides
Black, Disabled, Deaf, & Proud
Webinar panelists discussed the intersectionality of their disability identity with their racial identities and what this means for their parenting. Recording and summary now available.
ParentingWell Learning Collaborative
Go to: Upcoming Webinars | Past Webinars
Upcoming & Recent
Webinar: Encounters between Parents with Disabilities and the Medical Institution
New Brief: Residency Differences Between Fathers With and Without Disabilities in the US
Webinar: The Role of the HHS Office for Civil Rights in Advancing Rights for Disabled Parents
We hosted a webinar on The Role of the HHS Office for Civil Rights in Advancing Rights for Disabled Parents: Safeguards in Child Welfare Cases with Carla Carter of HHS Office for Civil Rights and Robyn Powell of NRCPD. Access the webinar recording.
Webinar: Strategies to Support Parents with Psychiatric Disabilities with Child Welfare Involvement
This webinar focused on parents with psychiatric disabilities involved in the child welfare system, with perspectives from legal services providers. Access the webinar recoding.
Our Map Resources
Current U.S. State Legislation Supporting Parents with Disabilities
Go to Interactive Map | Go to Legal Background | Go to Summary of State Legislation