Perspectives of mothers and fathers with intellectual disabilities on...

Introduction: In Austria, the parenting-experience of mothers and fa-thers with intellectual disabilities remains widely understudied. This re-search-based presentation focuses on the lived parenting experience ofparents with ID.

Methods: Interpretative phenomenological analysis of interviews withten Austrian parents with ID. Parents were contacted through variousnetworks and invited for at least one semi-structured interview each,about different aspects of their parenting experience and family life. Someparents live together with their children whilst others have beenseparated.

Results:Superordinate themes concerning lived parenting experienceinclude a self-understanding as mother/father, the experience of ID,identifying and mediating values, experience of the social network, beingdiscredited as a parent, handling the experience of separation, childprotection service’s ambivalence and challenges concerning the child.

Implications: Mothers and fathers with ID in Austria experienceempowerment and joy and they mostly take pride in being a parent.However, given the poor awareness regarding parenting by people withID, parents with ID are confronted with both underdeveloped servicesand prejudice. This research aims to–in close alliance with parents withID–tell the stories of mothers and fathers with ID and their families inorder to enable true perspectives for a future for all.