The case study illustrates the ways in which consultation with specialists can add strain to marriages involving disabled children. (CL)

The case study analyzes the interactions of a family with a physically handicapped child during periods of change. It is pointed out that the child became the "scapegoat" over problems between husband and wife. (CL)

The case study analyzes the family situation in which parents of an institutionalized severely brain damaged son cannot agree over the child's return for the summer. The two daughters and the parents were helped to discuss the situation and improve their communication. (CL)

A counselor describes feelings and attitudes of two young adults who see their marital problems as having begun with the birth of their severely disabled child. Counseling led to improved communication, better coping, and shared planning for the future. (DB)

Excerpts from counseling sessions highlight the effects of a developmentally delayed, autistic-like child upon a marriage and family. The counselor points out the parents' continuing frustrations from not receiving clear guidelines and notes the importance of a case manager. (CL)

The impact of geographic relocation on a married couple and their son with cerebral palsy is discussed. Counseling helped the family to adjust to their new community and resolve such problems as lack of family or friends nearby and the boy's acceptance in a more competitive school where he initially had no friends. (JDD)

A counselor describes the strains placed on a marriage after the birth of a handicapped son by both parents' difficulties in dealing with their own parents. The importance of better communication of needs among all parties and ways grandparents can help parents with a handicapped child are discussed. (VW)

The parents of an eight-year-old with spina bifida turned to a family counselor for help with the stress caused by financial problems. Improved communication helped the husband and wife to better understand and appreciate each other and work together to deal with the continuing uncertainty of their daughter's medical problems. (JDD)

Parents of an adolescent with severe physical disabilities talk with a counselor about their marital problems, which are focused on the financial strains caused by the expenses of sending their daughter to a private school. Counseling focused on the parents' need to reevaluate their own desires. (DB)

The parents of a boy with Down syndrome and two nondisabled girls developed marital conflicts about their roles in managing the home, helping with schoolwork, spending time with the children, and setting realistic expectations for the children. They learned to more clearly express their feelings about their own needs and their children's needs.…

A child with a serious disability can have an extensive emotional impact on the family. A case study of the parents of a disabled child describes the demands imposed on them by therapeutic programs and the use of counseling to focus on their marriage and their problem-solving styles. (JDD)

A family experiences difficulty dealing with a 20-year-old daughter who establishes a pattern of criticizing her parents' lifestyle, their relationship with each other, and their relationship with their 15-year-old learning-disabled son. (JDD)

In counseling sessions, a family with an adolescent son who has physical and academic problems comes to realize that each parent feels unappreciated for his or her efforts and that the father is overprotecting his son by not permitting him to solve his own problems and make his own decisions. (JDD)