Poster #146 - Intentional Parenting: Fathers’ and Mothers’ Experiences Parenting Young Children with Disabilities

• In Event: 1-061 - Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Parenting a young child with disabilities presents unique challenges to both fathers and mothers. A literature review revealed that there was limited information on parenting young children with disabilities and what was available was not cohesive, lacked a father perspective, and was based on quantitative measures originating from the perspective of parents of children without disabilities (e.g., Lomax-Bream, Taylor, Landry, Barnes, Fletcher, & Swank, 2007; Osborne & Reed, 2010). Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to provide a basic, comprehensive understanding of parenting young children, birth to five, with disabilities from both fathers and mothers. A total of twenty parents (ten fathers, ten mothers) of children with disabilities participated in individual audio recorded interviews to discuss their parenting experiences. Grounded theory techniques (Charmaz, 2006) were used to analyze the interviews and three main themes emerged: individual meaning-making, external influences, and the process of parenting. A graphic demonstration of these findings was developed as a conditional matrix illustrating the interconnectedness of these elements (see Figure 1). Fathers and mothers made intentional parenting choices based on their intrinsic beliefs and they also were influenced by external resources (e.g., service providers). From this foundation, they set expectations for their children, both short- and long-term, and then guided them within the structure of those boundaries. Parents indicated they parented the same as if their children did not have disabilities, but also discussed several modifications they made in their expectations and goals as well as parenting behaviors related to structure and guidance. Accordingly, the parents appeared to be expanding their parenting practices to accommodate the children’s disabilities and needed to be more intentional in their parenting approach in an effort to help their children be comparable to their peers. In addition, both fathers and mothers were rather similar in their parenting at the broadest level, but differences were evident when examined closely. Most notably, fathers were highly engaged in their parenting, but were limited by time constraints due to work schedules, which affected each area of parenting. From these findings, it is recommended that practitioners support the parents as they adjust their techniques while balancing the needs of the child with a disability. Moreover, many of the fathers were actively involved when present and invested in the child, so it is important that fathers are included in the early intervention process. Technology may provide avenues for father involvement through greater accessibility. It is important for practitioners to consider any inherent biases or assumptions in their traditional delivery models. These viewpoints may contribute to distancing fathers from being actively involved with their young children with disabilities.

Authors

• Juli M Sams, University of Tennessee
  Presenting Author

• Teri M Henke, Weber State University
  Non-Presenting Author