Descriptions of children's needs and parenthood among mothers with intellectual disability

Abstract

This study looks at how mothers with an intellectual disability describe their children's needs, their own parenting and parenthood, and their encounters with professionals providing them with help and support. The analysis draws upon a relational perspective on disability, theories of modern parenthood, and the concept of the sense of coherence in examining the strategies used by the interviewed mothers in their everyday lives, such as consulting people they trust. Having a child and being entrusted with the role of parenthood were described by the interviewed mothers as creating meaningfulness in their lives, while the comprehensibility of their everyday lives was often found to be lacking and the information given them by professionals not always understandable. Better information and communication thus seem to be necessary to render these mothers’ parenthood and its context more comprehensible.

Keywords

• children's needs
• intellectual disability
• mothers
• parenthood
• professionals