Discovering The Child’s Disability: Challenges with Parenting and Implications for Social Work Practice in South Africa

Abstract This paper sought to investigate the consequences of discovering that children have disabilities and their implications for parenting. The study upon which the paper has been based took the form of a literature review. There is a great deal of evidence to suggest that parents tend to blame themselves upon discovering that a child of theirs has a disability. Some parents experience great difficulty in obtaining medical or educational information to assist them to deal with the disabilities of their children. In addition, the children themselves are often subjected to mistreatment as a result of their ignorance, particularly as a result of having little or no knowledge or understanding of sexuality. Disabled children are also often subjected to being excluded from inalienable human rights such as having access to an acceptable quality of education. In the light of the challenges which they face in these respects, it is recommended that there should be a concerted and a committed endeavour to maximise public awareness and education through the printed, audio and visual media, in order to bring an end to the stigma and the additional challenges, such as social exclusion, which often accompany disabilities for children, by promoting and monitoring inclusive systems for communities and all institutions which are dedicated to meeting the needs of children, including schools.