Coping with twins discordant for intellectual disabilities: the mothers' view

In this exploratory study of 15 families with a twin-pair, of which one has an intellectual disability, the Nijmegen Questionnaire on Childrearing Situations (NQCS) was used to ask mothers about their perceptions and experiences of parenting. An interview with the mothers was done to understand the initial stages of coping with this double problem: educating a twin-pair and a child with an intellectual disability. Four groups of mothers were identified, depending on whether they accepted the intellectual disability of their child and/or whether they perceived their children as a twin-pair or not. Finally, some critical questions for further research and management were formulated.