Enfants à protéger, des parents à aider : deux univers à rapprocher

Chapitre 12_Assesing parenting capacity in parents with intellectual disabilities

C H A P I T R E 12 ASSESSING PARENTING CAPACITY IN PARENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES Marjorie Aunos, Ph. D. West Montreal and Lisette-Dupras Readaptation Centers, University of Quebec in Montreal Maurice Feldman, Ph. D. Brock University 224 DES ENFANTS À PROTÉGER – DES PARENTS À AIDER ABSTRACT Persons with intellectual disabilities often demonstrate difficulties in an array of different skills, which may raise questions regarding their ability to parent. Although these parents are often judged based on their cognitive limitations, many other factors have been hypothesized to impede parenting (Feldman, 2002). This manuscript will elaborate on those impediments of parenting when a parent has an intellectual disability. Furthermore, the authors will highlight the importance of performing a competency-based assessment by qualified and experienced clinicians. Recommendations in terms of report writing and general assessment of parenting abilities in parents with intellectual disabilities are included. RÉSUMÉ Les personnes ayant une déficience intellectuelle éprouvent souvent des difficultés dans diverses sphères d’activité, ce qui peut amener un questionnement sur leur aptitude à être parent. Bien que ces parents soient souvent jugés à partir de leurs limitations cognitives, plusieurs autres facteurs semblent affecter négativement leurs habiletés parentales (Feldman, 2002). Ce manuscrit élabore sur ces facteurs lorsqu’un parent a une déficience intellectuelle. De plus, les auteurs soulignent l’importance d’effectuer une évaluation favorisant la compétence. Selon eux, ce processus évaluatif devrait être réalisé par un clinicien qualifié et ayant de l’expérience avec des personnes atteintes de déficience intellectuelle. Des recommandations sur la façon d’écrire un rapport sur le processus d’évaluation des habiletés parentales de parents qui présentent une déficience intellectuelle sont incluses. ASSESSING PARENTING CAPACITY IN PARENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES 225 Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, 1994), Mary Steenburgen (About Sarah, 1998) and Sean Penn (I Am Sam, 2001) are all well-known actors who have portrayed, in movies or on television, the role of a parent with intellectual disabilities (ID). They portrayed the difficulties and insecurities parents with ID can have as well as their strengths, love for their kids and their desire to do well by them. These movies also show the diversity in parents with ID as “Forrest” has higher adaptive skills and can take care of his son with less support than “Sam” who needs considerable help to raise his daughter. “Sarah” needed support for herself, let alone her daughter, so her mother became the primary caregiver to her granddaughter. These films illustrate three different portraits of the level and intensity of support that might be needed to help parents with ID offer the best they can to their children. Most parents with ID who come to the attention of youth protection or ID support services have mild ID and are capable of taking care of themselves independently with minimal extra support. The question arises as to how can one know if a parent with ID is capable of caring for a child and what supports are needed to allow the parent with ID to successfully raise a child? 1. DEFINITION OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES According to the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) (Luckasson et al., 2002), a diagnosis of ID should be given when a person presents the following characteristics: (1) significant intellectual limitations as tested by a psychologist through an IQ assessment (usually a IQ score at least 2 standard deviations below the mean); (2) significant limitations in several key adaptive skills (e.g., communication, social skills, selfcare , domestic, community living, vocational, academic and conceptual skills); and (3) that these limitations arise before the age of 18 years old. Persons and parents with ID are a heterogeneous group and each may present a different set of strengths and needs. ID is now seen as a dynamic, rather than a static condition, with abilities and needs changing depending on a variety of factors, especially availability of supports to allow the person to function as independently as possible (Luckasson et al., 2002). AAMR recommends that level of ID and service planning should be based upon (among other things) an objective assessment of a person’s needed level and intensity of supports (Luckasson et al., 2002). While this support view of ID is gaining widespread acceptance, its application to parenting by persons with ID has yet to occur. 226 DES ENFANTS À PROTÉGER – DES...