Parents Who Lack Empathy and have High Expectations Often Punish Children with Learning Disabilities: Study
Parent's lack of empathy and unrealistic expectations influence risk of physical abuse in children with developmental disorders, according to a study.
Recent survey results suggest many people with neurobiological disorders and learning disabilities like autism and dyslexia are abused by their peers and family in childhood. Experts at the Saint Louis University found that parental behavior and attitude toward raising disabled children leads to risk of physical abuse and assault. Their study involved 67 parents from different ethnic, education and income backgrounds having children with learning disabilities.
They observed parents of disabled children mostly had high hopes and less empathy than those whose children did not suffer from any learning difficulties. The researchers also noted down their opinions on punishment, parent-child roles and subjugating children's freedom and power.
"We found that parents have higher expectations from their children, which may result asking them to achieve at a much higher standard than they are capable," said Debra Zand, study author and associate professor of pediatrics at the Saint Louis University, in a news release.
"We also saw that parents don't empathize toward their child's needs as much as parents of typically developing children, which suggests that these parents may not understand the needs or feelings of their children," she adds.
The failure to get their children learn, perform and conform like others without developmental disorders left many parents depressed and stress. This may force them to be slightly overbearing and resort to punitive actions. In many cases, parents are unaware of their children's suffering and over-expect from them. The authors urge pediatricians and doctors to counsel parents about right parenting practices to reduce risk of abuse and mental trauma in children.
"Parents often learn about appropriate parental behavior from a doctor, so pediatricians can educate them about healthy ways of dealing with their children. It can be an interactive session in which parents can ask pediatricians suggestions on how to make the situation better for the children. In addition to all this, parents need to find strong social support groups and engage in activities that help them be happy and feel competent," said Zand.
More information is available online in the journal Clinical Pediatrics.
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