ABSTRACT
Parents anticipate the birth of a healthy child, and characteristically, they look forward to their child's future achievement in school, success in a profession, marriage, and the birth of grandchildren. Thus, the birth of a handicapped child can have a devastating effect on parents. Even when parents later discover that their school-aged child is handicapped (e.g., diagnosed as having a learning disability or as being mentally retarded), parents may need to undergo stages of recognition wherein they achieve acceptance of the child and make an appropriate reassessment of their expectations.
