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Coping with Twins Discordant for Intellectual Disabilities: The Mothers' View

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Bernice De Vos
Affiliation:
Center for Human Genetics, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium.
Nele Jacobs
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, European Graduate School of Neuroscience, The Netherlands.
Lieve Vandemeulebroecke
Affiliation:
Center for Family Pedagogy, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.
Catherine Derom
Affiliation:
Center for Human Genetics, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium.
Jean-Pierre Fryns*
Affiliation:
Center for Human Genetics, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium. Jean-Pierre.Fryns@med.kuleuven.ac.be
*
*Address for correspondence: Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre Fryns, Center for Human Genetics, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.

Abstract

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In this exploratory study of 15 families with a twin-pair, of which one has an intellectual disability, the Nijmegen Questionnaire on Childrearing Situations (NQCS) was used to ask mothers about their perceptions and experiences of parenting. An interview with the mothers was done to understand the initial stages of coping with this double problem: educating a twin-pair and a child with an intellectual disability. Four groups of mothers were identified, depending on whether they accepted the intellectual disability of their child and/or whether they perceived their children as a twin-pair or not. Finally, some critical questions for further research and management were formulated.

Type
Scientific Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2002