“(UN)KNOWN PARENTHOOD” – ON THE PROCESS OF BECOMING A PARENT OF A CHILD WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
“(UN)KNOWN PARENTHOOD” – ON THE PROCESS OF BECOMING A PARENT OF A CHILD WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

Summary/Abstract: Introduction: A child with intellectual disability significantly impacts the existing model of thefamily and the parental, fraternal and marital roles assumed by its members. The experience ofnew situations filled with fears, anxiety and ignorance determine the direction of the actionstaken by parents in order to regain the lost balance.Research Aim: The aim of the project was to reconstruct the process of parents getting used to(coping with) their child’s intellectual disability.Research Method: Personal experiences of parents collected in the form of unstructured inter-views served as research material. Data analysis was performed in accordance with proceduresof grounded theory.Results: Based on the conducted research we were able to present and reconstruct coping pro-cess of parents of children with intellectual disability, at an early stage of diagnosis. Within it,we identified strategies for coping with the new life situation in which our research participantsfound themselves.Conclusion: The following considerations are centred around the Polish perspective, and takeinto account the political, cultural and social contexts. The coping process of parents of childrenwith intellectual disabilities consists of the following stages: experiencing a crisis, seeking con-trol, trying, discovering potentials, familiarization.

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