Negotiating parenthood

Abstract

People with cognitive difficulties often have scarce economic resources, and parents with cognitive difficulties are no exception. In this article, parents' experiences are put forth and discussed, for example, how does economic hardship affect family life? How do the parents experience support, what kind of strain does the scarce economy put on their situation and how are their children coping? The data consist of interviews with parents living in this often problematic situation. Experiences of poverty and how it can be related to - and understood in the light of - cognitive difficulties and notions of parenthood and children's agency are scarcely addressed in the current research. The findings suggest that experiences of poverty are often associated with the limitations caused by cognitive difficulties. Poverty may thus be articulated as one aspect of the stigma they can experience due to their impairments, not least in relation to their children and naturalized discourses on parenthood.