Becoming a Parent of a Child with Special Needs: Perspectives from Korean Mothers Living in the United States

Abstract

The current study aimed to explore how cultural contexts influence the attitudes of mothers raising children with disabilities. Semi-structured in-depth interviews of seven immigrant Korean mothers regarding their personal experiences within the complexities of the special education system in the United States were analysed to identify factors that help mothers to thrive in the face of numerous challenges they encountered when working with professionals from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Narratives revealed that support groups, parent–professional relationships and cultural norms served as motivational factors that encouraged mothers to take initiative in proactively seeking ways to meet the needs of their children. Findings highlight the importance of a professional’s genuine attitude and open-mindedness when approaching culturally and linguistically diverse families.

Keywords:

• Children with special needs
• culturally and linguistically diverse families
• Korean immigrant families
• parent–professional partnerships
• positive outlooks
• proactive attitudes
• relationships