Search results for ‘Subject term:"parents with learning disabilities"’ Sort:
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Parenting with disabilities: experiences from implementing a parenting support programme in Sweden
- Authors:
- STARKE Mikaela, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 17(2), 2013, pp.145-156.
- Publisher:
- Sage
- Place of publication:
- London
This article reports on the initial stages of implementing an Australian-based education programme for parents with intellectual disabilities (IDs) in Sweden. The clinical utility of the programme, Parenting Young Children (PYC), in the new country context is explored through Swedish professionals’ experiences in learning and using it. Study participants found PYC well suited for use in their working environment. Most of them reported the programme to have strengthened their work with parents. The programme was seen as benefiting both the study participants in their work with parents with IDs and these parents themselves, and its structure and content were found to be helpful in several ways. The checklists forming part of PYC were considered useful, but their purpose was sometimes misunderstood. The reported study helps to identify what is needed to improve the translation of the programme into the new country context, to promote appropriate and more effective use of programme materials. (Publisher abstract)
Supporting families with parents with intellectual disability: views and experiences of professionals in the field
- Author:
- STARKE Mikaela
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 8(3), September 2011, pp.163-171.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Parents with intellectual disability often disagree with professionals on what support is needed and how it should be provided, with parents often having little say in the matter. This study explored the views and experiences of 19 support professionals from urban areas in Sweden working with parents with intellectual disabilities, via an analysis of focus groups. Findings revealed that participants considered their work with client families as fraught with difficulty. Their accounts differed depending on whether the child was living with the parents or the child had been placed in out-of-home care. In the first case, parental limitations and inability to meet the needs of their children were emphasised, with parents failing to recognise their own high support needs. In the second case, the parental role was seen as important, and it was considered vital to continue to provide proper support to enable the parents' ongoing contact with their child and maintaining their parenting. Professionals doubted the capacity of the parents to care for their children and were uncertain about how to best support them.
Encounters with professionals: views and experiences of mothers with intellectual disability
- Author:
- STARKE Mikaela
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 14(1), March 2010, pp.9-19.
- Publisher:
- Sage
- Place of publication:
- London
The combination of having an intellectual disability and being a parent has been discussed both in terms of parenting, and in the parents’ ability to satisfy the needs of the child. Seven Swedish mothers with an intellectual disability were interviewed in order to charting mothers’ views and experiences of their encounters with different health and social service professionals. Findings revealed three distinct themes: the mothers experienced the interaction to be marred by lack of comprehensibility, resulting from inadequate information and their perception of not being treated properly; despite reservations about the nature of the interaction, several of the mothers also reported having received support that had strengthened their parental ability and had been experienced as empowering; and several of the mothers also clearly perceived themselves as subjects needing support. In conclusion, the results indicated that the interaction between the mother and the professionals suffered from paternalism in the attitude of the latter.