Acceptance of Their Children's Disability by Mothers of Preschool Children with Autism
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- NATSUBORI Setsu
- Tokyo Metropolitan University
Bibliographic Information
- Other Title
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- 就学前期における自閉症児の母親の障害受容過程
- シュウガク ゼンキ ニ オケル ジヘイショウジ ノ ハハオヤ ノ ショウガイ ジュヨウ カテイ
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Abstract
The present study attempted to identify differences in how mothers of children with different disabilities accept the diagnosis of their children's disability. Participants, 72 mothers of children with disabilities (55 had children with autistic disorder; 17, children with Down syndrome), gave retrospective answers to a written questionnaire, including both multiple-choice and free-essay items. Conclusions were as follows: (1) Significant differences were found according to the type of disability in the process of the mothers accepting the diagnosis, in terms of the periods of detection, diagnosis, and treatment, and also the mothers' psychological reactions. (2) Mothers of children with autism took more time to accept the diagnosis than did those whose children had Down syndrome. (3) 7 variables related to the difficulty of diagnosis were correlated with the differences between these two types of disability. (4) Mothers of children with autism had 2 stages in their psychological reactions. The first stage occurred when the mothers faced great challenges, starting at the time of detection and/or diagnosis. The second stage occurred when recurrent problems challenged the mothers' acceptance of their children's disability, even after diagnosis and after they had reached the point of realization.
Journal
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- The Japanese Journal of Special Education
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The Japanese Journal of Special Education 39 (3), 11-22, 2001
The Japanese Association of Special Education
