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Parents with Intellectual Disabilities
Past, Present and Futures

Parents with Intellectual Disabilities: Past, Present and Futures is essential reading for anyone interested in the lives of parents with intellectual disabilities, and it is recommended reading for everyone in the broader field of developmental disabilities. It provides a synthesis of current research and practice, along with clear picture of the challenges ahead. Its contents are both comprehensive and compassionate. The international authorship provides an important global perspective.’
Dr Dick Sobsey, University of Alberta, Canada

‘The birth of a new child tends to be a happy event, but if parents are intellectually disabled it is likely to be associated with "danger" and a case for child protection agencies. The point of departure of this book, however, is the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 23, on the elimination of discrimination related to marriage and family. The book discusses the experiences of parents with intellectual disabilities and their children, and also supports such parental training and the role of extended families. It is a very welcome contribution to a topic that tends to be negatively oversimplified.’
Jan Tøssebro, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

‘This is a unique exploration – from an international and multi-disciplinary perspective – of the lives and experiences of parents with intellectual disabilities, their children and the services that both enable and disable them in their parenting. Its combination of scholarly research and "insider" accounts makes it essential reading for researchers and practitioners around the world.’
Professor Dorothy Atkinson, The Open University, UK

Parents with Intellectual Disabilities is a thoughtful and comprehensive collection by an international team that blazes new trails for inclusion and equality for adults with intellectual disabilities. By asserting that forming a family and parenting are pathways both to social value and personal fulfilment, it challenges us to question our own values and assumptions about adults with intellectual disabilities as parents. An essential text for a full understanding of disability in the world of today and tomorrow.’
Ivan Brown, Ph.D., Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare, University of Toronto, Canada

‘A rare achievement, this book integrates clear-eyed analyses of the social circumstances faced by people with intellectual disability who parent or long to parent, strong research on critical aspects of this neglected human rights issue, and creative guidelines for improved practice. We may believe that Eugenics is over, long discredited. But what is its legacy in the lives of people with intellectual disability in relationships, pregnancy, decisions about parenting, and actual parenting? What do their children say? And how can we overcome the remaining barriers of history?

‘This must-read book explores the experiences of mothers and fathers with intellectual disability and their children, contextualized within their communities.  It investigates the systems and services that do or do not support successful parenting, and explores modern complexities of gender, terminology, citizenship, public policy, and human rights.’
Ruth Luckasson, Distinguished Professor of Education, University of New Mexico, US

Gwynnyth Llewellyn (Edited by), GL Llewellyn (Author), Rannveig Traustadottir (Edited by), David McConnell (Edited by), Hanna Bjorg Sigurjonsdott (Edited by), Steven Taylor (Foreword by)

9780470772959, Wiley

Hardback, published 13 April 2010

304 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.567 kg

"This excellent collection of essays begins from the human rights approach epitomised by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ... This collection challenges policy-makers to do more and better, and provides much of the evidence to underpin such improvements." (Disability, Pregnancy & Parenthood International, 1 September 2011)

"Parents With Intellectual Disabilities: Past, Present and Futures is thought provoking worth reading for those working with families with intellectual disabilities." (PsycCRITIQUES, February 2011)

The first international, cross-disciplinary book to explore and understand the lives of parents with intellectual disabilities, their children, and the systems and services they encounter

  • Presents a unique, pan-disciplinary overview of this growing field of study
  • Offers a human rights approach to disability and family life
  • Informed by the newly adopted UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)
  • Provides comprehensive research-based knowledge from leading figures in the field of intellectual disability

List of Contributors ix

Foreword xiii
Steven J.Taylor

Acknowledgments xvii

Introduction 1
Gwynnyth Llewellyn, Rannveig Traustadóttir, David McConnell, and Hanna Björg Sigurjónsdóttir

Part I Family and Community Life 15

1. Becoming a Mother – Becoming a Father 17
Rachel Mayes and Hanna Björg Sigurjónsdóttir

2. Looking Back on Their Own Upbringing 33
Gwynnyth Llewellyn and David McConnell

3. Family Within a Family 49
Hanna Björg Sigurjónsdóttir and Rannveig Traustadóttir

4. Children and Their Life Experiences 63
Jytte Faureholm

5. Understanding Community in the Lives of Parents with Intellectual Disabilities 79
Gwynnyth Llewellyn and Marie Gustavsson

6. Citizenship and Community Participation 95
Brigit Mirfin-Veitch

7. Parenting and Resistance: Strategies in Dealing with Services and Professionals 107
Rannveig Traustadóttir and Hanna Björg Sigurjónsdóttir

Part II Human Services Enabling and Disabling Parents with Intellectual Disabilities 119

8. Parenting Education Programs 121
Maurice Feldman

9. Supported Decision Making for Women with Intellectual Disabilities 137
Sue McGaw and Sue Candy

10. Turning Policy Into Practice 155
Beth Tarleton

11. Caught in the Child Protection Net 171
David McConnell and Hanna Björg Sigurjónsdóttir

12. Turning Rights into Realities in Québec, Canada 189
Marjorie Aunos, Laura Pacheco, and Katherine Moxness

13. Supporting Mothers’ Community Participation 205
David McConnell and Gwynnyth Llewellyn

14. Advocacy for Change: “The Final Tool in the Toolbox?” 225
Linda Ward and Beth Tarleton

Conclusion: Taking Stock and Looking to the Future 241
David McConnell, Gwynnyth Llewellyn, Rannveig Traustadóttir and Hanna Björg Sigurjónsdóttir

Index 263

Subject Areas: Psychology [JM]

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