Psychological Challenges Among Parents Of Children With Intellectual Disabilities Enrolled In Center For Mentally Challenged Children Implications For Counseling

The situations of individuals with disabilities have relatively received attentions globally andrnlocally. The challenges faced by their parents are, however, often overlooked. This isrnparticularly so in Ethiopia. Parents are the most immediate “significant-others” to a childrnwith disability. This means parents are the most affected by the disability next to, of course,rnthe child with disability. For parents, the birth of a child is a sign of faith and hope, a sourcernof pride, etc. A child is everything to his/her parents. Any parent would normally have plansrnand expectations for their children. However, having a child with disability may oftenrnextinguish those aspirations. It often means losing the child parents wished to have. When arnchild with disability is born, parents go through the process of acknowledging this reality andrnembracing the child they were given. This processes however is not a ‘one-off’ event with arnbeginning and an end; but rather continues throughout one’s lifetime. As is the case withrnother types of disabilities, a child with intellectual disability is also often a source ofrndisappointment rather than being considered equally human. This is particularly the case inrntraditional societies, like ours, where disabilities are usually associated with: superstitions,rnGod’s punishment and/or, an unfortunate happening caused as a result of a parent’s geneticrnlineage, etc. A number of previous and related studies showed, among other things, that, inrnEthiopia, having a child with disability is regarded as a source of shame, which usuallyrnleaves parents with significant psychological distresses. This calls for much research inrnEthiopia to better understand how childhood disability—Intellectual Disability (ID), inrnparticular—impact parents and families. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigaternthe psychological challenges of parents of children with intellectual disabilities, enrolled atrnCenter for Mentally Challenged Children (CMCC), in Addis Ababa. The study in particulartries to learn (a) the major views and reactions of parents at the time of their children’srndiagnosis; (b) the psychological challenges of the parents (c) other challenges andrnopportunities of having a child with IDs among parents; and (d) the coping mechanisms thernparents in question employ to deal with these challenges. The study adopted a qualitativernresearch design, as it provides an in-depth understanding and a rich description of thernparticipants’ psychological problems. Six parents, 4 mothers and 2 fathers, were consideredrnfor the study, on the basis of theoretical saturation. Semi-structured interviews and FGDsrnwere employed for data collection. The results were thematically categorized as: (i) viewsrnand reactions—which include initial reactions such as shock, denial, guilt, anxiety, sadness;rn(ii) psychological problems, i.e., concerns about child’s future, stress from managing thernchild, relationship strains, disappointment and sacrifices, inter-personal conflicts, beingrnworried, sense of loneliness; (c) copying strategies, i.e., religion, social support, educatingrnoneself about the disability, acceptance, appreciation; and other challenges (e.g., socialrnnegative views) and opportunities, i.e., understanding others, being non-judgmental, helpingrnothers, etc. These results have massive implications for structural (policy) and practicalrn(services) interventions.

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