Challenges Faced by Malaysian Parents in Caregiving of a Child with Disabilities

Abstract

Objective - Caregiving of a child with special needs can increase the cost of raising the child and parent’s stress. These two issues are commonly experienced by a parent who care for their special needs child themselves and the thought of challenges are different based on the disability of the child. Methodology/Technique – The challenges of raising a child with disability make it necessary for parents to work harder to to meet the cost of treatment. Meanwhile, levels of stress among those parents are understandably increased. Finding – Parents caring for a child with disability need to place greater emphasis on achieving a balance between their work, caring for their child and stress. Further, this paper includes a discussion on the cost of raising a disabled child and the increased levels of stress experienced by these parents. Novelty - The findings of this paper contribute to conceptual model on the challenges faced by Malaysian parents in caregiving for a child with special needs. Type of Paper: Review