The spiritual meaning that disabled persons and their families give to their experiences, and the quality of religious support they receive through the church have been found to affect adjustment and adaptation to the disability. However, little is known about how families actually draw on spiritual resources to aid them in the adaptation process. The purpose of this study was to explore how families respond to living with a child with a disability within the context of Christian faith. The research questions were: 1) What are the problems families face? 2) How do they integrate the child into church participation? 3) How has the faith of the family been shaped by the disability? Parents and child (if possible) were asked to describe their experiences. Only those parents who served in a direct caregiver role and are professing Christians were interviewed. All interviews were recorded and transcribed and were analyzed using the method of grounded theory. It was found that families who attended churches with an active program for the disabled were able to continue to participate in church activities and include the disabled child in the programs. In many cases church members reported to the families that they had been strengthened in their faith through the presence of the disabled child. When no provisions were made in the church for the attendance of the disabled child, parents tended to drop out of the church. Family members reported on their own spiritual growth as a result of providing care for the child.
Learning Objectives: NA
Keywords: Faith Community, Family Involvement
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.