Poster Session 2: Health and Resliency Among Families Experiencing Disability and Illness

Presenters: Darcey Powell, Rachel Harmon, Kira Hunt, Grace Page

Summary
The experience of caring for a child with a disability is greatly impacted by culture but previous research has mainly been conducted in affluent settings. This study compares how caregivers' perceptions of educational opportunities, governmental policies and support organizations are associated with caregivers' emotions and stress when caring for a child with a disability ina developed country (i.e., the United States; data collection ongoing) and a developing country (i.e., Mexico).Participants completed a survey measuring their demographics; knowledge of support groups, governmental policies, educational opportunities, and other resources; their stress level and emotional affect; and their child's adaptive behavior. This study enhances the field's understanding about caring for a child with a disability in a developing country and how culture influences this experience.

Objectives
-- Further the field's understanding of the experience of caring for a child with a disability in a developing country (i.e., Mexico) and compare it to caregivers' experience in a developed country (i.e., the United States).
-- Identify differences in awareness of governmental policies and support organizations for families of children with disabilities in a developed country (i.e., the United States) and a developing country (i.e., Mexico).
-- Clarify caregivers' perceptions about the educational opportunities for children with disabilities in a developing country (i.e., Mexico) and a developed country (i.e., the United States).

Subject Codes: parenting, disabilities, governmental assistance and programming
Population Codes: cognitive (dis)ability, differently abled, cross-cultural
Method and Approach Codes: community participation/action research, cross-cultural, quantitative methodology