Flexible Practices for Family Ties by Mothers of Children with Developmental Disabilities

From “The Story of Conflict” to “The Story of Practice with Flexibility”

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe how mothers of children with developmental disabilities live with their family, focusing on episodes of their everyday life. This study aimed at understanding various meanings the mothers created in family life. The author called it “narrative-discovering approach”, compared with “problem-solving approach”. Mothers raising children with developmental disabilities were interviewed about communications between with their children, and with their husbands. The data was analyzed using Modified Grounded Theory Approach (M-GTA). Results from these two investigations revealed that dedicated relationship of mother-child was supported by mothers’ desire to understand “my son/daughter” not “disabled child”, and mothers constantly reframed the conflicts within marriage in their mind to keep the family ties. Findings indicated that mothers spontaneously involved their families and got through difficult phases with flexibility in family fields. In addition to “the story of conflict” described by previous studies of mothers of disabled children, this study discovered “the story of practice with flexibility” of mothers to sustain peaceful family lives.