Abstract
The study investigated parental empowerment of parents of transition aged children with MID, on how such parents manage their children’s career transition. Parents are the often the primary caregivers for their children and subsequently bare the primary responsibility of nurturing their children’s development. Parents of children with neurodevelopmental conditions experience additional responsibility as they navigate specialized care and support for their children. As a result, this leaves parents with the additional parental responsibility that subsequently affects their well-being and functioning.
This research study aimed to explore and describe how parents of children with mild intellectual disability are empowered to manage their children’s career transition. The research study followed a qualitative research methodology. Interpretivist research paradigm was employed, and a phenomenological research design was used. Purposive sampling was used, and ten parent participants participated in the study. Data collection was conducted by using multimodal data collection techniques, namely, semi-structured interviews and art-based techniques (draw-write-and-talk and body mapping). Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data findings by coding and identifying themes that emerged from the data set.
The findings of the study indicated that parents lacked initial knowledge and understanding about MID. Participants reported their parental experiences as positive and noted to have received support from the special school, medical personals as well as family and friends. Parents were optimistic about their children’s development, despite, their children’s disabilities. Parents used various coping strategies to navigate challenges. Four themes emerged, namely a) parental understanding of MID, b) parental experiences of career transition of children with MID, c) parental coping strategies, support systems and sources of empowerment as well as d) support needs of parents of transition-aged children with MID.