Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (SJHSS)
Volume-5 | Issue-09 | 496-502
Original Research Article
Mothering A Child with Mental Disability in Egyptian Culture: Perceptions of Stigma
Maha Elsinbawi, Nagwa A. Meguid
Published : Sept. 25, 2020
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to explore and identify the experiences of mothers raising different mentally disabled child in the Egyptian society. Thirty mothers of children with mental disabilities have been selected and interviewed. They were diagnosed as Down syndrome (10 cases), Fragile-X (10 cases) and 10 with Autism. The interviewing process included two phases; introductory, and in-depth questions about mothers’ personal experiences in raising kids with special needs. The results of the interviews showed that 90% of these mothers were literate, 63% end up divorced and 66% leaved their jobs to take care of their special needs kid. Sadness, guilt, shame and isolation were some of the feelings of mothers who participated in this research, in addition to the overwhelm of being stigmatized by the society. Findings highlighted that provision of adequate education, health care and stigma were the main issues for mothers. The study reported that Egyptians do not have the culture of the psychiatrist. Despite considerable progress in recent years, Egypt is still marked by discriminatory attitudes which affect children with disabilities and their mothers. The study concluded that despite the autistic associations programs to increase public awareness about Autism, yet fragile-X still remains poorly understood for most of the Egyptians. We discovered that mothers of children with Fra X syndrome and autistics were less optimistic than those with Down syndrome mothers. Study suggested strategies to help ease the stigmatization included providing simple information about genetic diseases that non-medical individuals can easily grasp.