Attachment of family to child with disability

The development of attachment during the perinatal and/or postnatal periods between a child their mother, father and family as whole can be observed. This attachment provides the child with the safety and security feelings and may provide satisfaction to the mother and other family members. In children with physical and mental developmental disability, attachment may be challenged immediately after birth. It is typically recovered after a certain period. The authors describe the development of attachment of family members to children with somatic, mental or social disability based on an analysis of nine case reports. They conclude that the attachment of parents/mothers to their child with a disability is typically established after a certain period of time only. In the first period, there is a caregiving attitude of the mother even though the period of the origination of this tie takes place later. The mother is most frequently the person establishing attachment. However, this is not always the rule. In our cases, there were two fathers, who made the attachment earlier than respective mothers. Attachment was also evident in some grandparents and siblings. The parents, mostly the fathers, can lose the attachment established. Analysis of the degree of attachment to the child by parents may be complicated due to difficulty in assessing the extent and degree of the attachment of children with severe disabilities to their parents.