Living Disabled

Growing up and learning the facts of life, children of PTSD parents can struggle for a lifetime, having had their developmental years marred by confusion and grief. Lack of open communication from a child's point of view may lead to costly therapy and the future expenses of children damaged by PTSD, as in broken homes, toxic relationships, and poor life choices.

Jessica Slice’s disability is exactly what her child needed as a newborn. After becoming disabled a handful of years prior from a shift in her autonomic nervous system, Jessica had done the hard work of disentangling her worth from productivity and learning how to prepare for an unpredictable and fragile world. Blending her experience of becoming disabled in adulthood and later becoming a parent with interviews, social research, and disability studies, Slice describes what the landscape is like for disabled parents.

At age 24 I decided to tell my story. Writing this autobiography gave me the opportunity to pay tribute to my family members who are passionate about life and have instilled this passion in me. My parents' extraordinary support, encouragment, and pure love were my foundation as I navigated life, overcame obstacles, and achieved successes as a young woman with cerebral palsy.