Abstract

This book explores the lived experience of mothers raising a child with a learning disability, through interviews with mothers of children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Down syndrome.

With frequent personal accounts from mothers themselves, Mothering Special Needs encourages other women who have children with special needs to recognize and express their own aspirations and needs for self-fulfilment. It addresses the social construction of motherhood, discussing issues such as mother-blame and society's images of the self-sacrificing mother, in the context of raising a child with a learning disability. It also looks at real-life experiences of working with professionals, giving examples of both good and bad practice.

This is an invaluable book for mothers as well as for professionals working with families that include children with disabilities.

Drawing on several years of in-depth research with 18 Irish mothers of children with Down syndrome, autism, and ADHD, Kingston (women's studies, University College Cork,UK} encourages mothers of children with special needs to recognize and express their own aspirations and needs for self-fulfillment. She examines the social construction of motherhood, in the context of raising a child with a disability. Excerpts from interviews with the mothers in the study shed light on maternal coping, staying home versus working outside the home, social networks, and Catholic values and children with special needs'.
BookNews.Com
Anna Karin Kingston is a Swedish journalist living in Cork, Ireland since 1989. She has a PhD in Social Sciences and is currently a member of the MA in Women's Studies' teaching board, University College Cork. Her research on mothers of children with special needs was awarded scholarships from the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) during 2001-2004 and from the National Disability Authority 2001.
`An examination of the experiences of mothers raising children who have ASD, ADHD and Down syndrome, including an examination of working with professionals.'
CAS
`A mother reading this might feel less alone as she mothers her child with special needs. Professionals and others would get a flavour of the issues for mothers. Reading this book might serve to help them avoid some of the pitfalls which cause so much anger and distress.'
Rostrum