Experience of women with a school-age child with down syndrome

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand the experience and expectations of women having a school-age child with Down Syndrome. Participants were ten mothers of children with this syndrome who attended a mainstream school and were interviewed in June 2011. The following categories emerged from the testimonies: 'coping with challenges', 'search for balance', 'future projection of the child with Down Syndrome' and 'conciliation among being a woman, worker and mother to a child with Down Syndrome'. The women feel overburdened by the need to conciliate multiple roles. They are concerned with not knowing who will take care of their child in the future, do not have time to take care of themselves and everything related to the personal life is referred to as a postponed desire. Despite nuances of particularities, these women's experiences represent a typical behavior that characterizes the action of women having a child with Down syndrome.