Social network attributes of families with positive adaptation to the birth of a developmentally disabled child

Abstract

Families who had adjusted well to the birth of a developmentally disabled child, and who were providing home care in the Province of Manitoba in Canada, were studied to explore their family attributes and social network characteristics. A survey was completed in thirty-six households involving the completion of a structured interview. This paper focuses on the consistent pattern that emerged across these strong families in their employment of social network resources. Successful adaptation to the birth of a developmentally disabled child seemed tied to skillful parental coordination of small, intense human networks in which extended family and friends provided different types of human support.