Coping skills for parents of children with barriers to learning

Abstract

Past research has shown that one of the most traumatic emotional experiences parents face is the diagnosis of having a child with barriers to learning. For various reasons they do not always receive the necessary follow-up professional support after diagnosis.

This study was undertaken with the specific aims of identifying various coping skills that enable these parents to raise their children to their full potential, to determine the value of these coping skills for parents, to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in such households and to make recommendations on appropriate approaches and strategies.

The study revealed that parents are able to make changes in their approach and behaviour to adapt to the new stressful environment. Restraining factors having a negative impact on the functioning of parents or families have been identified, together with identification of various opportunities and driving forces that serve as the foundation for mitigating, accepting and dealing with the problem. Based on these findings, recommendations are made to provide guidelines to advise and support parents in raising children with barriers to learning.