Enhancing the Parenting Skills of Developmentally Disabled Parents: A Nursing Perspective

Abstract

Whether by choice or accident, more developmentally disabled adults are becoming parents, and nurses are being challenged to provide opportunities for these parents to acquire the necessary skills to parent successfully. "In 1978, the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare estimated that there were approximately 983,000 mentally retarded youngsters in the public schools of America" (Motz, 1983, p. 2). Today, these youngsters are retarded adults, each possessing the potential of becoming a parent. Literature review revealed that limited nursing resources are available in assisting these parents to cope with the many complicated aspects of parenting. Much has been written addressing the parenting skills, social skills, and cognitive skills that developmentally disabled patents must acquire in order to successfully patent. However, the mentally retarded parent should also receive training in learning the basic health-care needs of their children, recognizing the medical and nutritional needs as well as social, emotional, developmental, and cognitive needs.