Resilience among the parents of children with intellectual disability

Pages: 1033-1036
Hardeep Kaur (Department of Social Work, Punjabi University Patiala, Punjab)

Intellectual disability is the contemporary term that describes the phenomenon known as learning disabilities , mental retardation , mental handicap, sub normality . Presence of an intellectually disabled child in the family, at times gives rise to disequilibrium ,which is eventually followed by adjustment to life with or without any undue stress. These stresses emerge and reemerge during the upbringing of the child and in the long run may also result in resentment due inability to change the situation. One time support does not relieve the parents from the problems emerging on daily basis .Families are thus required to be resilient in order to cater to the demands and the pressures coming up during the process of upbringing of their child .Having high level of resilience can help the parents to sail through the uneven path and adapt to new conditions. This paper outlines the parental issues related to the child with intellectual disability and the role of family resilience.