Parents and Stress
If you are a parent of a child who has special needs, you have probably gone through several different emotions. Feelings of anxiety, lack of child success, monetary stress, and blame are all very common emotions that parents feel when they find that their child has a special need. If you have felt this way, you are not alone.
Although parents with or without a special needs child face stress on a daily basis, it is reported that parents who have a child with special need are more likely to experience psychological distress than those that do not (Zaidman-Zait, 2007). Additionally, although stress is felt by both parents when a child has special needs, mothers are at even greater risk to experience psychiatric problems, have trouble coping with their child's special need, and have greater stress than fathers (Rousey, Best, & Blacher, 1992). Even though mothers are more likely to develop negative psychological effects, fathers are very helpful in helping mothers with children. Fathers have been reported to help with tasks such as feeding and dressing the child with special needs (Rousey, Best, & Blacher, 1992). There are no significant differences between mother and father involvement with their child (Rousy, Best, & Blacher, 1992). Luckily, over the last 20 years, there has been an increase in parent satisfaction when there is a special needs child in the home (as cited in Pearsin et al. 1999). Several reasons can be attributed to reasons why parents are better satisfied with their happiness levels. The column to the right explains several coping methods which may contribute to happiness levels of parents with children that have special needs. |
Coping Methods Checklist
Here is an overview of ways to help you cope with your child's special need:
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Coping Methods
Several studies have been conducted to see which coping methods have proven to be most effective for parents of children with special needs. Below are several methods that have been proven to be effective for parents.
Healthcare: As one may imagine, news of a surgery going well for a child will always help to relieve stress. In a study that was conducted to find how to help parents with deaf children cope, 100% of parents reported that if their child was able to have a surgery that helped their child hear again, there was a strong sense of relief and the stress levels decreased (Zaidman-Zait, 2007). Parents whose child cannot not be fixed through surgery find relief and have lower levels of stress if their child's test results are given in a timely manner and if doctors are sympathetic and willing to answer questions relating to their child's special need (Graungaard & Skov, 2006). Social Support: Seeking social support has been found to be one of the most helpful methods for coping with parents. Receiving support from someone on the outside may allow parents to feel as if they are not being judged by the person listening to them. Several programs, such as Parent to Parent Support are programs which pair up one parent to another parent with a child that has a similar special need. Together, the two parents can find ways to cope with daily hardships. (Ainbinder et al., 1997). There are several social support groups to help parents of special needs children in times of stress and discomfort. To find a support group near you, please refer to the column to the left. Although support groups have been claimed to be one of the top ways to help parents cope, research also indicates that if parents choose not to receive support from outside of their family, there will be a stronger sense of family community within the household. Creating Future Images: Creating future images, or having visions for what their child will become and achieve, for parents of newborn children with special needs has been proven to have several different impacts on parents. The study completed by Graungaard and Skov (2006) found that if parents thought about the future, they often became exhausted realizing that their child was disabled. However, in the same study, a mother describes that she was given hope by looking at pictures of a boy with the same diagnosis as her child “standing up tall and looking happy” (Graungaard & Skov, 2006, pg. 301). Being able to connect her child to another child with the same diagnosis gave her hope and kept her to cope with her son's disability. |
Parents' Stories-
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