Psychological Challenges among Parents of Children with Intellectual Disabilities enrolled in Center for Mentally Challenged Children: Implications for Counseling
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Date
2020-06
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AAU
Abstract
The situations of individuals with disabilities have relatively received attentions globally and
locally. The challenges faced by their parents are, however, often overlooked. This is
particularly so in Ethiopia. Parents are the most immediate “significant-others” to a child
with disability. This means parents are the most affected by the disability next to, of course,
the child with disability. For parents, the birth of a child is a sign of faith and hope, a source
of pride, etc. A child is everything to his/her parents. Any parent would normally have plans
and expectations for their children. However, having a child with disability may often
extinguish those aspirations. It often means losing the child parents wished to have. When a
child with disability is born, parents go through the process of acknowledging this reality and
embracing the child they were given. This processes however is not a ‘one-off’ event with a
beginning and an end; but rather continues throughout one’s lifetime. As is the case with
other types of disabilities, a child with intellectual disability is also often a source of
disappointment rather than being considered equally human. This is particularly the case in
traditional societies, like ours, where disabilities are usually associated with: superstitions,
God’s punishment and/or, an unfortunate happening caused as a result of a parent’s genetic
lineage, etc. A number of previous and related studies showed, among other things, that, in
Ethiopia, having a child with disability is regarded as a source of shame, which usually
leaves parents with significant psychological distresses. This calls for much research in
Ethiopia to better understand how childhood disability—Intellectual Disability (ID), in
particular—impact parents and families. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate
the psychological challenges of parents of children with intellectual disabilities, enrolled at
Center for Mentally Challenged Children (CMCC), in Addis Ababa. The study in particulartries to learn (a) the major views and reactions of parents at the time of their children’s
diagnosis; (b) the psychological challenges of the parents (c) other challenges and
opportunities of having a child with IDs among parents; and (d) the coping mechanisms the
parents in question employ to deal with these challenges. The study adopted a qualitative
research design, as it provides an in-depth understanding and a rich description of the
participants’ psychological problems. Six parents, 4 mothers and 2 fathers, were considered
for the study, on the basis of theoretical saturation. Semi-structured interviews and FGDs
were employed for data collection. The results were thematically categorized as: (i) views
and reactions—which include initial reactions such as shock, denial, guilt, anxiety, sadness;
(ii) psychological problems, i.e., concerns about child’s future, stress from managing the
child, relationship strains, disappointment and sacrifices, inter-personal conflicts, being
worried, sense of loneliness; (c) copying strategies, i.e., religion, social support, educating
oneself about the disability, acceptance, appreciation; and other challenges (e.g., social
negative views) and opportunities, i.e., understanding others, being non-judgmental, helping
others, etc. These results have massive implications for structural (policy) and practical
(services) interventions.
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Keywords
Parents are the most immediate “significant-others” to a child with disability. This means parents are the most affected by the disability next to, of course, the child with disability. For parents,