The increasing diversity of the U.S. population presents a challenge to providers of early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities, and their families. Information is needed about the cultural contexts of families with infants with disabilities which is currently lacking in the literature in special education. Using ethnographic methods of participant observation, in-depth interviews, and field notes, with member checks and peer debriefing for establishing trustworthiness, this study gathered information about the context of parenting an infant with developmental disabilities in Cork, Ireland during 1993. The primary respondents for this study were sixteen mothers of children between the ages of twelve and forty months, who had recently received a diagnosis which implied some degree of developmental disability. The findings reveal a process of adaptation and coping by the respondents that was informed by their cultural beliefs following their infant's diagnosis. A conceptual framework that described this process was proposed after being constructed during inductive data analysis. Within this framework, a three stage process of adaptation was identified. Specifically, the most salient aspects of the Irish culture that affected these mothers' adaptation were cultural models of motherhood, rules about not talking about problems and needing to "get on with it", and a need to address problems in the present without trying to predict the future. The clarity of the infant's diagnosis was directly related to the respondent's rate of adaptation. The respondents described their ability to cope with a profound strength and conviction that reflected their perceptions of self-reliance, optimism, and competence. The results of this study indicate the critical role and influence of culture on coping and adaptation in parents of children with disabilities. The implications of these findings for policy, research and practice in early intervention are presented.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-1638 |
| Date | 01 January 1998 |
| Creators | Finn, Catherine Donahue |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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