Family-professional partnerships are a key support for families of children with disabilities, but little is known about families of children with deaf-blindness. This study examined (a) the factor structures of the Beach Center on Disability Family-Professional Partnership and Family Quality of Life (FQOL) Scales utilizing a national sample of…

Beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, the focus on individual quality of life expanded to family quality of life (FQOL) in the field of intellectual disabilities. However, few studies examined FQOL for families who have children with hearing loss. Furthermore, most studies focused on mothers' perceptions of FQOL. The purpose of this study is to…

Noting the absence of sound theoretical underpinnings for family quality of life (FQoL) research and work, the authors note that, to guide FQoL practice, research findings must be schematically organized so as to enable practitioners to implement empirical findings effectively. One way to meet this goal is to introduce a theoretical model that…

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) practice may have both positive and negative impacts on quality of life (QOL) of children with AAC as well as their entire family. Thirteen studies were reviewed to analyze family outcomes and perspectives on AAC practice by using a family quality of life (FQOL) framework comprised of five…

This article presents the authors' response to Gunther and Diekema's argument about growth attenuation and due process. As a case study, growth attenuation raises complicated issues. The authors address some issues that have not been sufficiently addressed. Those involve family support, assistive technology, constitutional rights to "self," the…

The daily educational experiences of a young child affect not only the child but also the family. The time and energy a family invests to achieve optimal educational experiences will likely impact the whole family system. As such, early education service providers are responsible for decreasing the challenges that parents experience so that…

There is currently a lack of reliable scales with which to assess the construct of family quality of life, particularly for families who have children with disabilities. The current work presents 2 studies, including a total of 488 families with children with disabilities, which were conducted to complete the development of a scale to assess…

Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with 187 individuals including family members of children with a disability, individuals with a disability, family of children without a disability, service providers, and administrators. Ten domains of family quality of life were identified and described in terms of subdomains, indicators, and…

The parents of a 31-year-old man with mental retardation, mental illness, and behavioral disorders describe how his relatively independent life style is maintained through comprehensive lifestyle support including friends, home, work, community connections, transportation, and family. Anecdotal accounts illustrate interventions effective with…