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Background: Families of children with developmental disabilities face extraordinary changes in their life circumstances and needs that require adaptations to create sustainable and meaningful daily routines. The present study explored the adaptation of Chinese families of children with developmental disabilities from an ecocultural theoretical perspective. Method: A total of 34 families of children with developmental disabilities were interviewed using the adapted Family Life Interview, and the data were analysed thematically. Results: The Chinese families put the needs of their child with developmental disabilities as their highest priority, sought to maintain family harmony, faced an unpredictable future, and experienced limited services to support their endeavours. Conclusion: The findings stress the importance of having a deep understanding of the cultural and social contexts that impact the lives of families of children with developmental disabilities prior to developing family-centred interventions to assist families in their changed life circumstances.

School satisfaction is a critical aspect of well-being for every child and adolescent. Yet studies have rarely investigated whether school satisfaction varies depending upon participant characteristics and school-related social factors. Here we investigated whether disability and gender moderate adolescents' self-report of school satisfaction. We also explored the role of mediating variables such as teacher support, parent support, and relationships with peers (including friendships and also bullying). Our analysis of data from 3,830 adolescents revealed a significant interaction between disability and gender. Girls with disabilities reported the lowest school satisfaction, an effect that appeared to be more strongly mediated by perceived lack of teacher support than other variables. Our findings are novel in disaggregating school satisfaction data by both disability and gender to reveal an interaction between these variables and in investigating the role of mediating variables relating to school-related social factors. Impact and Implications: School satisfaction is vital for well-being, yet we know little about how school satisfaction varies depending upon participant characteristics and school-related social factors. Our analysis has revealed an interaction between disability and gender in self-reported school satisfaction among adolescents. Girls with disabilities report the lowest satisfaction, an effect that appears to be more strongly mediated by teacher support than parent support or peer experiences.

Women with disability experience significantly more violence and abuse than their nondisabled peers. Efforts to implement, evaluate, and scale-up strategies to prevent violence against women are rapidly expanding, but we know less about "what works" to prevent violence against women with disability. While secondary and tertiary prevention aim to identify violence early and prevent further occurrence, this review focuses on primary prevention. In the disability services sector, primary prevention is sometimes referred to as safeguarding and covers a range of activities that aim to address the underlying determinants of violence to prevent it from happening in the first place. The aim of this review is to identify and synthesize research on evaluated interventions addressing the primary prevention of violence against women with disability and explore evidence about their quality and effectiveness. A systematic search across the bibliographic databases of Medline, CINAHL, Embase, and PsychInfo for peer-reviewed literature published in English on or after January 1, 2010, yielded 483 papers of potential interest. Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria and were considered for review. Data were extracted and the quality of the studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. Most studies reported outcomes from pre- and post-test research designs and received a weak rating of quality. Although interventions targeting awareness, knowledge, and skill development showed evidence of effectiveness, there is a distinct lack of program development that draws on known risk factors for violence such as the intersection of ableism and gender inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children of parents with intellectual impairment are thought to be at risk for poor social-emotional well-being. This study investigated the relationship between maternal intellectual impairment and poor child social-emotional well-being. Method: Secondary analysis of data from waves 2-4 of the Millennium Cohort Study (UK). Social-emotional well-being was measured by maternal report at Waves 2-4, with teacher and child self-report at Wave 4. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. Results: Unadjusted, maternal intellectual impairment was associated with an elevated risk of overall poor social-emotional well-being at ages 3 and 5, but not at age 7. After controlling for individual, family and environmental characteristics, no statistically significant association was found between maternal intellectual impairment and poor child social-emotional well-being. Conclusions: Children of mothers with intellectual impairment are more likely than their peers to be exposed to adverse living conditions. These living conditions may explain, at least in part, why these children face a heightened risk of poor social-emotional well-being at ages 3 and 5. Improving the living conditions of mothers with intellectual impairment may offer a pathway to child social-emotional well-being.

Background: Mothers with intellectual disability face socioeconomic disadvantage and social isolation, which is associated with poorer child outcomes. Social services feature prominently in the lives of mothers with intellectual disability especially those without informal support; however, the role of formal support in the lives of their children has not been explored. Methods: Seven children aged 7-11 years took part in semi-structured interviews to explore their social experiences. Stories about interactions at home, school and with peers were analysed to illuminate influences, including social support, in their lives. Results: Formal support can provide an enduring relationship for children from socially restricted homes when it focuses on the child's abilities, interests and needs as distinct from those of their mother. Child-focused support can be from a paid worker or volunteer. Conclusions: Family support services need to apply a child focus to improve the well-being of children in vulnerable families.

Background: Parenting by people with intellectual disability is attracting increasing attention, and policymakers and service providers require empirical evidence to develop sound policy and service responses. The purpose of the study was to identify prevalence and demographic data on parents with ID in Australia compared with parents with other disabilities and the population of parents without disability. Method: The Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, 2009, was identified as the most suitable survey, and design-weighted analysis was performed. Results: An estimated 0.41% of Australian parents had intellectual disability, equating to 17,000 parents with ID. Parents with ID were more likely to have only 1 child and to reside outside a capital city compared with parents without disability. Conclusions: These findings provide benchmark data for monitoring, over time, the prevalence of parents with ID and point to policy and service responses for parents with only 1 child and for those in outer urban, regional, and rural areas of Australia.

Background: News media frames public perceptions. As such, news media becomes a useful source of analysis to understand the presence (or otherwise) of people with disabilities, particularly intellectual disabilities, within parenting discourses in Australia. Method: Using Critical Discourse Analysis, this article examines major Australian newspapers over the period from January 2004 to December 2008, critiquing the construction of parenting and disability. A small number of articles are examined in close depth for tone, polarity syntactic and paradigmatic choice, deconstructing the underlying discourses that shape the article and thereby popular perceptions of parenting and disability. Discussion: Discourses of care and child protection are emphasized in news articles about parenting, creating perceptions that negate the role of people with disabilities as parents. Such perceptions result in a systematic symbolic castration of people with intellectual disabilities from the role of parent in Australian society. Conclusion: By providing a framework for understanding the public perceptions of parents with disabilities (particularly intellectual disabilities), this paper demonstrates that changes are necessary in Australian media reporting on parents with disabilities to bring such reporting more closely in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006.

Background: The transition from school to adulthood for young adults with an intellectual disability involves movement from a generally secure and supported school environment to an emerging adult life that may be characterised by a wide variation in adoption of adult roles related to employment, independent living, friendships, and day activities. Method: In this study, we investigated the perspectives of 18 mothers of young adults with either Down syndrome or Rett syndrome through qualitative semistructured interviews. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework was used as a conceptual basis. Results: Themes that emerged included adult roles assumed during the day, accommodation, quality of life, living a "good" life, and family impact. Conclusions: In contrast with Rett syndrome, mothers of young adults with Down syndrome described more difficult pathways to attaining stability in adult roles. Environmental facilitators and barriers emerged in the area of support, relationships, services, systems, and policies.

In many countries, women and men with intellectual disability (ID) marry and have children of their own; however, in some countries, this is still taboo. Reproduction and parenting by people with ID is often a "hot" topic. Important questions related to this phenomenon include: Can people with ID provide "good enough" parenting? Can they be taught to be good parents? What about their children; should their children be taken away and cared for by someone else? Issues concerning healthcare that can support parenting, together with what supports are necessary for people to exercise the right to retain their fertility and to have their own family bear examination. In the Asia-Pacific region, an expanding focus on disability rights, deinstitutionalization, and inclusive policies means that there are more opportunities for people with ID to become parents. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Incheon Strategy to "Make the Right Real" for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific region both address these issues. Both promote disability-inclusive policies and practices derived from a rights-based framework; the right to reproduction is viewed as a fundamental human right and individual freedom. However, parenting rights and responsibilities are governed by cultural mores and societal traditions. Research primarily from high-income countries across the last four decades demonstrates that most parents with ID can provide sufficiently good parenting when appropriate supports are in place. Research on this topic to advance policy and practice needs to happen in specific national, geographical, cultural, and societal contexts. Furthermore, policy development is required to meet the goals and targets of the Incheon Strategy. Regional networks and national organizations of and for people with disabilities are challenged to include reproductive care and parenting programs in their policy and advocacy work. (Contains 4 footnotes.)