Storying Disability and Impairment: Retrospective Accounts of Disabled Family Life

Much previous British research on disability and its effects on family life has seen impairment as a personal or family tragedy. In this article, the authors describe current English research that is asking families about their experiences of professional health and social care support since the bir...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Qualitative health research 2006-05, Vol.16 (5), p.630-646
Main Authors: Goodley, Dan, Tregaskis, Claire
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Caregivers
Consumer Behavior
Disability
Disabled children
Disabled Persons
Families & family life
Health care
Health technology assessment
Humans
Narration
Narratives
Parent-Provider communication
Parents
Psychosocial support
Qualitative research
Retrospective Studies
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Summary:Much previous British research on disability and its effects on family life has seen impairment as a personal or family tragedy. In this article, the authors describe current English research that is asking families about their experiences of professional health and social care support since the birth of their disabled child. Interviews with the families uncovered a range of themes that challenged the personal tragedy approach. Far from being passive recipients of care, these are ordinary families seeking appropriate information from professionals to support them in their ordinary parenting role. For them, the professionalized care service should be based on negotiated relationships of equality that give respect to parental perspectives on what is right for their child. The authors conclude that these data are useful in describing ongoing barriers to enabling care provision and in offering a positive view of disabled family life.
ISSN:1049-7323
1552-7557
DOI:10.1177/1049732305285840