Smiles in Times of Adversity:Transformational Experiences of a Mother Having a Child with Multiple Disabilities

• Main Authors: LIN, CHIA-HSUAN, 林佳萱
• Other Authors: NIU, WEN-YING
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/34vdu8

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 特殊教育學系 === 104 === Abstract This study, adopting self-narrative, interviewed with the spouse, other people’s inquiries, and archival data for data collection. The participants included me, my spouse, and four inquirers, aiming to explore the transformational experiece of a mother having a child with multiple disabilities. With a first-person narrative for describing the life expereince, this study adopted holistic-content narrative analysis to examine the collected data. In accordance with the purposes of the study, tentative applications of the study were as follows: 1. Since the impact of having a child with multiple disabilities, I, as a mother, have suffered from initial responses to losses, such as the impact of unpredictable life, in a state of complete physical and mental exhaustion searching for miracles, and the loss of self-worth. 2. The four phases of psychological adjustment I have experienced included temporary leave without salary, child rearing by myself, happy reunion with the whole family, and earnest embrace with hope. My resilience has grown out of life adversities. 3. The resilience in the nurturing process contained having positive interpretation, repairing the relationship between me and others, and integrating related resources for problem solving. 4. Factors that promoted my transformational experiences inlcuded personal characteristics and experiences, development of family strengths, and resources of social support. 5. Such transformational experiences strengthened my tolerance for adversities, enriched my vision and unique turns in life, and put the society initiative of barrier-free environment into practice. Such transformational experiences enabled me to see my smiles in times of adversity. The results of the study imply that in the face of unexpected learning of raising a child with multple diabilities, the mother should be aware of personal physical and mental state, realizing the potential involvement in multiple tramatic experiences and sense of self-loss. Transformation requires a “certain” period of psychological adjustment, and restoration-oriented capacities would grow as time proceeds. Factors such as personal characteristics and experiences, development of family strengths, and resources of social support promote the transformational experiences of a mother having a child with multiple disabilities. The given mother’s resilience is embodied in diverse aspects, including changes of beliefs, improvement in relationship, and problem solving. Finally, the transformational experiences help a mother having a child with multiple disabilities to uplift her realization of life, to enhance her adaptivity while facing adversity, and to promote her doings in initiating the rights for people with disabilities. Keywords: a mother having a child with multiple disabilities, transformational experiences, resilience, self-narrative.