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Module 1 – Accessing social support in your role as a parent

Global Developmental Delay > Module 1 – Accessing social support in your role as a parent

Parents and families benefit from having a group of people around them who care for and support them. This support is often called social support. These people may include family members, friends, other parents of children with delays, or other community members. There is no set amount of ‘recommended social support’ but rather what is important is how satisfied you are with the social support you receive.

Social support includes (Dunst & Trivette, 1988):

  • Emotional (e.g. someone to talk to)
  • Child (e.g. someone who interacts with and accepts your child)
  • Financial (e.g. someone who lends you money)
  • Instrumental (e.g. someone who does household chores)
  • Agency (e.g. someone who obtains services for your child)

The quality of social support is a strong predictor of parent-related stress. So, if you don’t already have a group of people who support you and your child, developing these connections can be an important step to improving your parenting well-being.

Step 1. Identify your current situation

Step 2. Identify your ideal situation, or your goal

Step 3. Identify one small action you could take to help reach your goal

Step 4. Enact the first small action

Step 5. Monitor to see the impact of the action

Step 6. Repeat

References

Dunst, C. J., & Trivette, C. M. (1988). Support Functions Scale. In C. J. Dunst, C. M. Trivette, & A. G. Deal (Eds.), Enabling and empowering families: Principles and guidelines for practice (pp. 143–146). Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.

Hauser-Cram, P., Warfield, M. E., Shonkoff, J. P., Krauss, M. W., Sayer, A. & Upshur, C. C. (2003).             Children with disabilities: A longitudinal study of child development and parent well-being.  Monographs of the Society for Research in Children, 66(3), 115-126.

McGill Smith, P. (2003). You Are Not Alone: For Parents When They Learn Their Child Has a Disability, Parenting a Child with Special Needs (3rd ed). National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities. Washington DC.