• 323-01 - Choice and Control for Individuals With Disabilities and Their Families: Experiences, Outcomes and Effective Service Models to Promote Satisfaction, Health and Well-being
  Presented by: Caitlin Bailey, Amanda Rich, Gail Godwin, Marian Saulino
• 323-02 - Youth With Disabilities: Parents' Roles in Extracurricular Participation
  Presented by: Colleen Gibbons, Brent McBride
• 323-03 - Parent and Child Narratives in Relation to Family Adaptation With Illness
  Presented by: Jill Popp, JoAnn Robinson, Preston Britner, Thomas Blank
• 323-04 - Predictors of Sibling Empathy in Families Raising Children With Disabilities
  Presented by: Jessica Crapo, Susanne Olsen Roper, Tina Dyches, Barbara Mandleco

Abstracts

Choice and Control for Individuals With Disabilities and Their Families: Experiences, Outcomes and Effective Service Models to Promote Satisfaction, Health and Well-being

Presented by: Caitlin Bailey, Amanda Rich, Gail Godwin, Marian Saulino

Historically people with intellectual disabilities and their families have had limited choice and control over their support services.  However over the past 40 years has there has been increasing recognition that more choice and control in the lives of people with ID and their families has implications on individual and family well-being. The paper presents preliminary results of a mixed methods study on how two disability supports organizations promote choice and control for the people they support and the implications of those services on individual and family satisfaction, health and sense of well-being.

Youth With Disabilities: Parents' Roles in Extracurricular Participation

Presented by: Colleen Gibbons, Brent McBride

In this paper, we address two specific areas: barriers and boundaries as experienced by parents of youth with disabilities.  Using a social-relational approach to disability, combined with family systems frameworks, the authors have completed in-depth interviews with 15 parents of high school students with disabilities, to answer the following questions: What does participation look like for high school students with disabilities?  In what ways do family boundaries and barriers impact extracurricular participation for students with disabilities?  This data provides ideas for new avenues of participation, and highlights ways to reach this potentially overlooked student population.

Parent and Child Narratives in Relation to Family Adaptation With Illness

Presented by: Jill Popp, JoAnn Robinson, Preston Britner, Thomas Blank

The purpose of this study was to understand commonalities between narratives from parents and children about their child's illness.  Reaction to Diagnosis Interviews, questionnaires assessing functioning were completed with 66 caregivers of children, aged 5-8 years, with type 1 diabetes or moderate-severe asthma.  Forty-three fathers also participated.  Children completed a story-stem task assessing family representations. 41% of caregivers were unresolved to their child's diagnosis.  Lower levels of family expressiveness, cohesion, and greater family conflict were reported among unresolved parents. Children of unresolved parents included more family conflict themes. Future work may consider interventions about family communication and expression of emotion.

Predictors of Sibling Empathy in Families Raising Children With Disabilities

Presented by: Jessica Crapo, Susanne Olsen Roper, Tina Dyches, Barbara Mandleco

The purpose of this study was to examine links between parental religiosity and family hardiness and positive sibling relationships in families raising a child with a disability, particularly focusing on empathetic sibling relationships. Parents of 171 children or adolescents with disabilities completed self-report questionnaires. For mothers, both public and private religiosity were associated with higher levels of sibling empathy; however, this was not the case for fathers. Higher levels of family hardiness were associated with sibling empathy for both mothers and fathers. Implications for practitioners are considered.