Cognitive coping strategies for parents with learning disabled children

Abstract

Although thet:e has been gradual awat:eness of leat:ning disabilities aftet: Wodd Wat: II, it was in the late 1960's that compt:ehensive assessment and special education wet:e provided in schools. Specifically, in the at:ea of services for families, a reaffirmation of the fundamental rights of chilruen and families emerges. Although stress associated with the presence of a learning disabled child is an important consideration, its impact on the family is related to the family members' cognitive appraisal of the stress situation and thett copmg resources. Parents of learning disabled chilruen experience more stress, often exacerbated by faulty, misunderstood coping efforts that increase conflict in the family. Reseat:chers have investigated how: families manage stress; and cope with the multiple stt:esses of rearing a learning disabled children. It has been found that while many families cope, others cannot. Stress theory has dttected our attention to circumstances that weaken families and exacerbate distress. Preventative and ameliorative services at:e needed to assist such families. Stress and coping theory suggest that differences in families' reactions to learning disabilities may be related to amount and quality of resources available to pat:ents. This involves cognitive adaptation using coping skills, enabling them to t:e-evaluate stressful events positively. Another resource would be professionals, whose role would be of a facilitator, strengthening the ability of the family to gain access to needed services while increasing the family's mastery of coping with learning disability. Research has shown that parents' initial contact with learning disability and how to assist their learning disabled child was stressful. After parents received counselling on coping with their stress and stress management, and after the child's psycho-educational assessment and remedial measures were implemented, there has been significant positive feedback from parents and children. Research would embrace relationships between perceptions and family well-being using Ellis's rational-emotive therapy, thereby contributing to better understanding of how families cope with stress. Ayurvedic principles would be used to adopt a holistic approach to life. By using RET and A yurvedics the researcher was able to assist parents with learning disabled children to cope better with their stresses and effectively manage their child's learning disability.