Abstract
We, the authors of these reflections on older mothering and disability, maintain highly demanding professional academic careers while, as nondisabled and disabled mothers, raising disabled and nondisabled children. Examining the intersection of motherhood, disability, age, academia, culture, advocacy, and activism, this chapter explores how mothers can manage to find and retain their own identity while lurching from crisis to crisis, moving from expert to novice, navigating entirely new bureaucratic systems, experiencing prolonged or permanent exhaustion, and coping with the extended dependence of their children. These are all central realities for women who parent children with complex needs and for mothers