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How are parents potentially affected?

Many families will manage well but the following are some of the positive and negative issues that may arise

• increased understanding of disability and differences
• increased appreciation of own health and abilities
• increased helpfulness and sensitivity
• stigmatisation
• increased attention on child with disability
• increased marital dissatisfaction
• increased parental stress
• decreased well-being
• decreased social support
• impaired family recreation and socialisation

It may seem too insensitive to give something as mechanical as a list of potential implications for the family, but it emphasizes how wide-ranging is the impact of disability. For example

"After Ian was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, my husband really retreated into himself. It was not just that he did not support me or Michael and Peter (the other tiuplets). He made others feel uncomfortable, so they did not come around so much. It's better now, but it was touch and go. I guess he has adjusted to the fact that the triplets were not going to the be the 'mini footballtream' he had been dreaming about during the pregnancy. I'm just hoping he is not putting too much on Michael and Peter."

It can be more complex than this, especially when there is some dispute over diagnosis. For example, Dad's 'active little sportsman' is Mum's concern over a diagnosis of ADHD. Then where ADHD is seen (quite injustly) to be a reflection on parenting, stigmatisation comes to the fore, complicated further by the differences between the parents and their views. Along with this may be lack of support-if you think the child does not have a problem, then you may not go along with any intervention.