Abstract
Parents with mental retardation form an underserved needs group whose numbers are steadily increasing and are likely to continue to do so as a result of deinstitutionalization, community care, and the acceptance of “ordinary life” principles as a basis for service provision. This article reviews the research literature on parenting by people with mental retardation in order to draw out the lessons for practitioners and to assist them in developing a clearer view of their aims and approach when working with these families. Case vignettes from an ongoing study of mothers and fathers with mental retardation are used to illustrate the common themes. The authors conclude that service providers still have much to learn about how best they can secure and uphold the citizenship rights of these parents as well as protect the welfare of their children.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andron, L., and Sturm, M. L. (1973) Is “I do” in the repertoire of the retarded? A study of the functioning of married retarded couples.Ment. Retard., 11: 31–34.
Andron, L., and Tymchuk A. (1987) Parents who are mentally retarded. In Craft A. (ed.),Mental Handicap and Sexuality: Issues and Perspectives, D. J. Costello, Tunbridge Wells, pp. 238–262.
Atkinson, D., and Williams, F. (1990)Know Me As I Am, Hodder and Stoughton, London.
Attard, M. T. (1988) Mentally handicapped parents—Some issues to consider in relation to pregnancy.Brit. J. Mental Subnormality 34: 3–9.
Bertaux, D. (1981) Introduction. In Bertaux, D. (ed.),Biography and Society Sage, London, pp. 5–12.
Booth, T., and Booth, W. (1994)Parenting Under Pressure: Mothers and Fathers with Learning Difficultie, Open University Press, Buckingham.
Brandon, M. (1957) The intellectual and social status of children of mental defectives,J. Ment. Sci. 103: 710–738.
Brandon, M. (1960) A survey of 200 women discharged from a mental deficiency hospital.J. Ment. Sci. 106: 355–370.
Brantlinger, E. A. (1988) Teachers' perceptions of the parenting abilities of their secondary students with mild mental retardation.Remed. Special Ed. 9: 31–43.
Budd, K., and Greenspan, S. (1984) Mentally retarded mothers. In: Blechman, E. (ed.),Behavior Modification with Women, The Guilford Press, New York, pp. 477–506.
Budd, K., and Greenspan, S. (1985) Parameters of successful and unsuccessful intervention for parents who are mentally retarded.Ment. Retard. 23: 269–273.
Crain, L., and Millor, G. (1978) Forgotten children: Maltreated children of mentally retarded parents.Pediatrics 61: 130–132.
Donaldson, S. (1993)Support for parents with mental handicap. Unpublished manuscript, Woodlands Hospital, Cults, Aberdeen, Scotland.
Downdney, L., Skuse, D., Rutter, M., Quinton, D., and Mrazek, D. (1985) The nature and quality of parenting provided by women raised in institutions.J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 26: 599–625.
Edgerton, R. (1967)The Cloak of Competence: Stigma in the Lives of the Mentally Retarded, University of California Press, Berkeley.
Erikson, K. (1973) Sociology and the historical perspective. In Drake, M. (ed.),Applied Historical Studies, Methuen, London, pp. 13–30.
Espe-Sherwindt, M., and Kerlin, S. (1990) Early intervention with parents with mental retardation: Do we empower or impair?Infant. Young Child. 2: 21–28.
Feldman, M. (1986) Research on parenting by mentally retarded persons.Psychiat. Clin. North Am. 9: 777–796.
Feldman, M., Case, L., Rincover, A., Towns, F., and Betel, J. (1989) Parent education project III: Increasing affection and responsivity in developmentally handicapped mothers.J. Appl. Behav. Anal. 22: 211–222.
Feldman, M., Towns, F., Betel, J., Case, L., Rincover, A., and Rubino, C. (1986) Parent education project II: Increasing stimulating interactions of developmentally handicapped mothers.J. Appl. Behav. Anal. 19: 23–37.
Floor, L., Baxter, D., Rosen, M., and Zisfein, L. (1975) A survey of marriages among previously institutionalized retardates.Ment. Retard. 13: 33–37.
Fotheringham, J. (1980)Mentally Retarded Presons as Parents, Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychiatry, Queen's University, Ontario, Canada.
Fotheringham, J. (1981)Mild Mental Retardation, Poverty and Parenthood, Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychiatry, Queen's University Ontario, Canada.
Galliher, K. (1973) Termination of the parent/child relathionship: Should parental I.Q. be an important factor?Law Social Order 4: 855–879.
Gath, A. (1988) Mentally handicapped people as parents.J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 29: 739–744.
Gillberg, C., and Geijer-Karlsson, M. (1983) Children born to mentally retarded women: A 1–21 year follow-up study of 41 cases.Psychological Med. 13: 891–894.
Haavik, S. F., and Menninger, K. A. (1981)Sexuality, Law and the Developmentally Disabled Person: Legal and Clinical Aspects of Marriage, Parenthood, and Sterilization, Paul H. Brookes, Baltimore.
Kaminer, R., Jedrysek, E., and Soles, B. (1981) Intellectually limited parents.J. Develop. Behav. Pediat. 2: 39–43.
Kanner, L. (1949)A Miniature Textbook of Feeblemindadness, Child Care Publications, New York.
King's Fund. (1980)An Ordinary Life: Comprehensive Locally-Based Residential Services for Mentally Handicapped People, King's Fund Center, London.
Laxova, R., Gilderdale, S., and Ridler, M. (1973) An aetiological study of 53 female patients from a subnormality hospital and their offspring.J. Ment. Def. Res. 17: 193–216.
Lazarus, R. (1966)Psychological Stress and the Coping Process. McGraw Hill, New York.
Llewellyn, G. (1990) People with intellectual disability as parents: Perspectives from the professional literature.Austr. New Zeal. J. Devel. Dis. 16: 369–380.
Madsen, M. (1979) Parenting classes for the mentally retarded.Ment. Retard. 17: 195–196.
Mickelson, P. (1949) Can mentally deficient parents be helped to give their children better care?Am. J. Ment. Def. 53: 516–534.
Miller, W. (1981, Winter). A special problem in primary prevention: The family that cares about their children but is not able to rear them.J. Clin. Child Psychol. 38–41.
Mira, M., and Roddy, J. (1980).Parenting Competencies of Retarded Persons: A Critical Review, Unpublished manuscript, College of Health Sciences and Hospital, The University of Kansas Medical Center.
Parkes, M. (1971) Psycho-social transitions: A field for study.Social Sci. Med. 5: 101–115.
Peterson, S., Robinson, E., and Littman, I. (1983) Parent-child interaction training for parents with a history of mental retardation,Appl. Res. Ment. Retard. 4: 329–342.
Plummer, K. (1983)Documents of Life, Allen and Unwin, London.
Rosenburg, S., and McTate, G. (1982) Intellectually handicapped mothers: Problems and prospects.Children Today 24–26, 37: 24–26.
Scally, B. (1973) Marriage and mental handicap: Some observations in Northern Ireland. In de la Cruz, F. and LaVeck, G. (eds.),Human Sexuality and the Mentally Retarded, Brunner/Mazel, New York, pp 186–194.
Schilling, R. F., Schinke, S. P., Blythe, B. J., and Barth, R. P. (1982) Child maltreatment and mentally retarded parents: Is there a relationship?Ment. Retard. 20: 201–209.
Seagull, E., and Scheurer, S. L. (1986) Neglected and abused children of mentally retarded parents.Child Abuse Negl. 10: 493–500.
Shaw, C. H., and Wright, C. H. (1960) The married mental defective: A follow-up study.The Lancet Jan. 30, 273–274.
Thompson, A. W. (1984) The assessment and remediation through play therapy of parenting competencies of mentally retarded mothers.Diss. Abst. Int. 45: 379.
Tucker, M., and Johnson, O. (1989) Competence promoting versus competence inhibiting social support for mentally retarded mothers.Hum Organ. 48: 95–107.
Tymchuk, A., and Andron, L. (1988) Clinic and home parent training of a mother with mental handicap caring for three children with developmental delay.Ment. Hand. Res. 1: 24–38.
Tymchuk, A. (1990).Parents with Mental Retardation: A National Strategy, President's Committee on Mental Retardation. Washington, DC.
Tymchuk, A. (1992) Predicting adequacy of parenting by people with mental retardation.Child Abuse Negl. 16: 165–178.
Tymchuck, A., Andron, L., and Tymchuk, M. (1990) Training mothers with mental handicaps to understand behavioural and developmental principles.Ment. Hand. Res. 3: 51–59.
Tymchuk, A., Andron, L., and Ungar, O. (1987) Parents with mental handicaps and adequate child care—A review.Ment. Hand 15: 49–54.
Unger, O., and Howes, C. (1986) Mother-child interactions and symbolic play between toddlers and their adolescent or mentally retarded mothers.Occupat. Ther. J. Res. 8: 237–249.
Whitman, B., and Accardo, P. (1990) Epidemiological probes: Agency surveys and needs assessment questionnaires. In Whitman, B., and Accardo, P. (eds.),When a Parent is Mentally Retarded, Paul H. Brookes Baltimore, pp. 13–30.
Whitman, B., Graves, B., and Accardo, P. (1986) The mentally retarded parent in the community: An epidemiological study.Devel. Med. Child. Neurol. 53 (Suppl.): 18.
Whitman, B., Graves, B., and Accardo, P. (1989) Training in parenting skills for adults with mental retardation.Social Work 34: 431–434.
Whitman, B., Graves, B., and Accardo, P. (1990) Parents learning together I: Parenting skills training for adults with mental retardation. In Whitman, B., and Accardo, B. (eds.),When a Parent Is Mentally Retarded, Paul H. Brookes, Baltimore, pp. 51–66.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Booth, T., Booth, W. Working with parents with mental retardation: Lessons from research. J Dev Phys Disabil 6, 23–41 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02578406
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02578406