Intervening with families of young children with severe handicaps: Contributions of a family systems approach.

Abstract

Considered the special circumstances of families of young children with severe handicaps, who may require an integrative approach to assessment and treatment. The advantages of family systems concepts are discussed in relation to supporting families during behavioral parent training. Special emphasis is placed in identifying family structures, the family life cycle, and the effect of ethnicity on the selection of treatment goals.Families of young children with severe handicaps are vulnerable to a high level of psychological stress that may impair their ability to meet the child's developmental and educational needs and result in maladaptive functioning of the family system as a whole. Sources of such stress include sadness in response to the child's disability, uncertainty about the future, extensive caretaking responsibilities and financial burdens, social isolation and difficulties negotiating the maze of medical, social, and educational agencies involved with the family. A critical function of school psychologists and other professionals working with families of infants and preschoolers with severe handicaps is intervening in a manner that helps families cope more successfully with these stressors.This paper describes a conceptual approach to serving these families that expands the traditional goals of behavioral parent training. While the behavioral assessment and problem-solving processes typical of straightforward behavior

Levels of fusion, triangulation, and adjustment in families of college students with physical and cognitive disabilities

“…The present study confirms Minuchin et al's (1975Minuchin et al's ( ,1978 statements that enmeshment and overprotectiveness are characteristics of families of adolescents with disabilities. This study also joins a handful of growing studies (Powers, 1991;Seligman & Darling, 1989;Turnbull et al, 1985;Yura, 1987) that have reported the existence of patterns of enmeshment and disengagement in families in which a member with disabilities is present.…”

“…Studies from a family systems orientation (Minuchin, Baker, & Rosman, 1975;Minuchin, Rosman, & Baker, 1978;Patterson, 1991;Powers, 1991;Seligman & Darling, 1989;Turnbull, Brotherson, & Summers, 1985;Yura, 1987) have identified patterns of enmeshment and disengagement in families of adolescents with disabilities. Olson et al (1984) found the launching period of the family life cycle, described by Carter and McGoldrick (1989), to cause a great amount of family stress.…”

The effect of the psychoeducational group family education program for families of children with ASD on parents: A pilot study.

“…Another significant effect of having a child with a disability on the family is the impairment of the family functions (Burrell, Thompson and Sexton, 1994). Similarly, the presence of children with severe developmental disabilities is known to affect marital relationships and reduce sexual intercourse between spouses (Powers, 1991). The literature states that parents of children with ASD have a considerable risk in terms of depression, social isolation, and marital problems (Gupta and Singhal, 2005).…”

Comments on seymour sarason'spsychoanalysis, general custer and the verdicts of history, and other essays on psychology in the social scene

“…Family dynamics is affected by such systems as culture, nation, state, neighborhood, school, as well as other sub-systems within the context of the family. Family system approaches (Powers, 1991) used in special education should be worth exploring by policy planners and mental health workers.…”