Parenting the Mentally Retarded Adolescent: A Framework for Helping Families

Abstract

Parenting the mentally retarded adolescent is a challenge and often a difficult task. In this article, I use systems, crisis, and developmental theories as well as Orem's nursing theory of self-care to conceptualize an approach to working with these families and discussing the specific issues these families face. I suggest that nurses who work in various school, community, and health care settings are often in strategic positions to help families confront the issues, to provide support to the families as they deal with these issues, and to assist the families in obtaining the additional help they need to achieve optimal development and functioning on an individual and family level.