This study examined the relationship between mothers and children with Down syndrome as reflected in the mothers' drawings of themselves and their disabled children. A sample of 20 mothers, 10 Bedouin-Arabs and 10 Jews, participated in the study. Of these, 10 mothers of children with Down syndrome served as the study group, and a matched group of 10 mothers of children who did not have Down syndrome served as a comparison group. Findings revealed that mothers of children with Down syndrome drew a larger number of barriers between the mother and child figures, which also tended to be more abstract, as compared to the figures drawn by mothers of children who did not have Down syndrome. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)