Mothers' expectations for the futures of their mentally handicapped children

Abstract

Twenty-eight mothers of 29 school-aged, mentally handicapped children were interviewed at home during the summer of 1987 to determine what expectations they held for the futures of their children and to determine what factors influenced these expectations. -- Data analysis showed that all mothers had developed expectations for the futures of their children in virtually all areas examined. It appears that the development of these expectations is very much influenced by the mothers' estimations of the childrens' degree of handicapping condition. Further analysis revealed that mothers', perceptions of their childrens' abilities is influenced by mothers' perceptions of their childrens' overall development. No particular developmental factor, i.e., language development, fine motor skills, mobility, etc. could be identified as contributing to mothers perceptions of their childrens abilities. Factors previously thought to influence the development of maternal expectations, i.e., family or professional support and socioeconomic status of the families had little effect in this study. All results described in this study were done so with caution in light of the small sample size (n = 28).