Positive experience of families raising children’s with disability Cover Image

Šeimų, auginančių neįgalius vaikus, pozityvi patirtis
Positive experience of families raising children’s with disability

Author(s): Leticija Cvetkova, Stasė Ustilaitė
Subject(s): Education
Published by: Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas
Keywords: family raising a child with disability, disability; positive experience.

Summary/Abstract: The strength of a family, its inner resources and positive experience while upbringing a child with disability are not on the list of widely discussed topics in the Lithuanian social science. Stress factors, negative impact of disabled child on the family and its functioning were the topics of many foreign scientific articles for a long time. The newest researches are more focused on the mechanisms of readjustment of parents, the ways of adaptation of the family and a positive attitude towards disability. Experience is a unit of knowledge and skills, which comes as a result of activity. Experience is gained through living, having different impressions, observing, and acting. The moments of positive experience for a family raising a disabled child can become a base for successful and effective life organization. This is why the following research seems to be important. The aim of the research is to identify positive experiences of families in raising children with disabilities on the basis of analysis of scientific literature and qualitative analysis of families upbringing disabled children. The objective of the research is to find out in which areas of life families raising disabled children have positive experience. Participants of the research: eleven parents of disabled children from 10 families participated in a qualitative research. All of them are members of the Lithuanian Association for People with Mental Disability “Viltis”, all of them live in Vilnius city. The children are from five to twenty one years old suffering from cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism, and mental retardation. Methods of the research. Half-structured interview is used in the research. The data obtained in the half-structured interview enabled the authors to identify the following four areas of life in which families raising disabled children have positive experience: Feelings (love, emotional bond with the child; child as a source of joy and happiness; child’s advantages); Inner parent’s growth (a more profound understanding of life, it’s meaning; acquiring new experience; empathy towards others; positive attitude towards their “special” parenthood); Family relationships (common goal; ability to divide responsibilities between family members; free time organization); Finding new spiritual and material recourses (decision-making; life changing; wider spectrum of communication; active participation in community life; occupation choices; less worry about material wealth). The birth of a disabled child and care for him / her forces parents to learn to make proper decisions on the family level and have strength in accomplishing them. ..

  • Issue Year: 2011
  • Issue No: 102
  • Page Range: 135-142
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: Lithuanian