Parents' management of the development of their children with disabilities: Incongruence between psychological development and culture

TY - JOUR

T1 - Parents' management of the development of their children with disabilities

T2 - Incongruence between psychological development and culture

AU - Dammeyer, Jesper Herup

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 -  Being the parent of a disabled child is not easy, it is experienced as a situation marked by stress, crises and grief. As Vygotsky described eighty years ago, the development of children withdisabilities and the culture do not fit as they do for non-disabled children. The development of achild with disabilities is not determined by the child's physical defect alone, but constituted by theincongruence between the physical defect and the culture. In this study, the lives of four familieswith deafblind children were followed for two years. Interviews and observations were conductedin different settings. This study finds that because of the incongruence between the physical defectand the culture, it is difficult to reach and maintain the zone of proximal development for a childwith disabilities. This study illustrates how the network of professionals and parents around thechild can make a local congruence that creates a platform for the child's development.

AB -  Being the parent of a disabled child is not easy, it is experienced as a situation marked by stress, crises and grief. As Vygotsky described eighty years ago, the development of children withdisabilities and the culture do not fit as they do for non-disabled children. The development of achild with disabilities is not determined by the child's physical defect alone, but constituted by theincongruence between the physical defect and the culture. In this study, the lives of four familieswith deafblind children were followed for two years. Interviews and observations were conductedin different settings. This study finds that because of the incongruence between the physical defectand the culture, it is difficult to reach and maintain the zone of proximal development for a childwith disabilities. This study illustrates how the network of professionals and parents around thechild can make a local congruence that creates a platform for the child's development.

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1904-0210

VL - 2010

SP - 42

EP - 55

JO - Critical Practice Studies

JF - Critical Practice Studies

IS - 1

ER -