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SUMMARY. This paper presents a model for counselling families of young handicapped children. It is argued that the process that parents go through following the birth of a handicapped child is akin to bereavement following loss. Therefore, professionals on a wide range of disciplines should be sensitive to the grief that parents are experiencing. The authors have used Le Poidevin s theory of adjustment to loss to structure their own theories and to devise a checklist to aid other professionals. Their experience indicates that the birth of the handicapped child may act as a catalyst for psychological growth in parents—mast particularly mothers.

In Russia, despite the efforts made and significant progress in medicine, the number of people with special needs is growing slowly but steadily. In our country, the number of children in need of special education increases by 3–5 % every year. Technologies for social rehabilitation of these children require the mandatory inclusion of parents in rehabilitation activities, mothers and fathers' attendance of classes to teach the basics of social and medical rehabilitation, and meetings of parents to specify further work with the child at home. Thus, children and parents are jointly trained in independent living skills.

Background  Although grandparents are recognized as an important source of support for families of children with intellectual and other disabilities, there has been very little research in this area. The aim of the present paper is to present a brief overview of the literature, and to present data from a preliminary study of relationships between parental stress and grandparent support and conflict.Methods  Sixty‐one parents of children with Down's syndrome (34 mothers and 27 fathers) completed questionnaires on grandparent support and conflict. Parents also completed the Friedrich Short Form of the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (QRS) with scoring amended to include a depression sub‐scale.Results  The main findings were: (1) grandparent support and conflict were associated with mothers' but not fathers' ratings of stress on the QRS, and (2) both grandparent support and conflict made independent contributions to the prediction of mothers' stress on at least one dimension of the QRS.Conclusions  Practical implications of the results for interventions designed to encourage grandparent support for families are discussed. Issues for further research and methodological problems with the study are also identified.

The prevalence, correlates (child behaviour problems and negative parenting) and determinants (risk and protective factors) of parental need for support were examined in a community sample of 177 mothers with a child aged 1.5‐3.5 years, in order to draw a profile of families that need parenting support. A substantial number of the mothers reported needing support (40% reported need for information, 10% reported family and social support needs). This need was related to child behaviour problems and to negative parenting. Maternal depression, difficult temperament of the child and negative life events, as well as total number of risk factors, significantly predicted the need for support. Satisfaction with support (but not number of support sources) acted as a protective factor.

Fifty‐two families with mentally handicapped children under five describe their confusing experiences with a variety of professionals and officials. Such confusion can be explained partly by the reluctance of different agencies and government departments to co‐operate with one another and by the dominance of the medical profession in services for the handicapped. But the main cause of the chaotic health and welfare arrangements lies in politicians' indifference, as expressed by their apparent free‐for‐all, private‐market attitudes to the planning of services.

AbstractSupport services to families of children with disabilities have previously been documented. While the effectiveness and consequences of some support strategies have been defined, their comparison remains problematic primarily because of the diversified existing definitions. The present study aimed to elaborate and validate a typology to describe different types of support that can be offered to families of children with disabilities. A review of literature highlighted a variety of support services and allowed a categorical grouping. Content analysis ensured that each category was defined distinctively. Afterwards, a panel of experts and representatives of organizations from seven developed countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Sweden and Switzerland) validated the typology. A database of services offered in these countries was created. The resulting typology was divided into four categories related to the family needs: support, respite, child minding and emergency support. Each type of support can be illustrated within organizations in the database. As such, social workers can use the defined typology to identify the needs of families of children with disabilities and suggest alternatives when services are not available. Overall, the described typology should facilitate discussion between stakeholders and families by providing a common communication system.