Abstract
The present study examined how the mother of a high-functioning developmental disorder (HFPDD) child makes sense of her child care and the child's disability in her life. It also looked at the relationship between the mother's meaning of child care and the child's disability, and her recognition of the child's disability, from the perspective of new theories of grief. Narratives about the meaning of the experience of having child with HFPDD and the recognition of the disability were obtained through semi-structured interviews with 19 mothers of HFPDD children. The main findings were as follows. First, mothers were categorized into six types according to the meanings of child care and the child's disability: "growth-positivity," "ambivalence," "inactivity," "identity," "resignation," and "insensitivity." In addition, giving positive meaning to child care and the child's disability in the mother's life was related to finding significance and social value in her child and the child's disability, and to less difficulty and conflict in her conception of the child's disability.
