A qualitative study of financial concerns of mothers’ of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Abstract

Parents have long been concerned with the transition to adulthood of their children with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) particularly with financial issues. The purpose of this study was to explore the financial concerns of mothers of adults with IDD. Five mothers of adults with IDD participated in a focus group to share their experiences, opinions, concerns, and challenges related to finances. Five themes emerged from the qualitative data analysis: (a) job-related difficulties, (b) living expenses, (c) access to essential services, (d), skills deficits and/or challenging behavior, and (e) long-term care. Mothers in general indicated tremendous financial burdens, loss of income, and expressed concerns about long-term care of their children with IDD. These themes are discussed and implications for practice and research are provided.

Keywords:

• financial concerns
• adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities
• families
• transition to adulthood
• guardianship

Acknowledgement

Special acknowledgement extends to Nora Chapman who assisted with facilitating the focus group, coding, and data analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by TTU College of Education SEED Grant.