Friends and Family

Parents' Place - The role of grandparents

Summary: The role of grandparents in the lives of blind or partially sighted children. Includes some general links for grandparents.

• The role of grandparents
• Grandparents as supports
• Can grandparents also have less positive effects?
• The grandparent perspective
• A recent research study
• Useful Links for Grandparents

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This section has been taken from an article that appeared in Eye Contact magazine, issue 27, summer 2000. Eye Contact has been replaced by Insight magazine - which is a premier magazine providing inspirational and practical information on the education of children and young people, including those with additional or complex needs

The role of grandparents

Dr Richard Hastings from the Department of Psychology at the University of Southampton describes his research into the role of grandparents of children with disabilities.

We are used to hearing that the number of older people in western countries is increasing and that people are living longer. Retired people also have increased amounts of spare time, and many use this time to develop their relationships with grandchildren. These facts are one of the reasons that social science researchers have become increasingly interested in the role of grandparents within today’s family.

Grandparents as supports

• Grandparents of children with disabilities can play a crucial role in helping families to adapt to their child and the difficulties associated with caring for them.
• Research has shown that grandparents provide a great deal of practical support and emotional support to parents of children with disabilities.
• In many families grandparents and other extended family members are the main source of support available to parents.
• There is some evidence to suggest that parents’ stress levels can be reduced where grandparents are supportive. This seems to be the case most especially for fathers. It is not clear why this is the case, but it may be that the kinds of roles that grandparents perform are typically those performed by fathers and so the pressure on them is reduced.
• Other research has confirmed what we might expect to be the case: maternal grandparents provide more support than paternal grandparents, and grandparents living closest to the family are more supportive.

Can grandparents also have less positive effects?

• Anecdotal evidence also suggests that some parents find grandparents interfere with their ability to cope with their child, or possibly constitute an extra burden to families.
• Important issues seem to be disagreements about how best to care for the child with a disability, and worries about the long term future for the child.
• Some parents have been concerned about emotionally supporting grandparents who have worries about the child.
• Parents can be frustrated that grandparents do not understand about the child’s disability or the difficulties faced by parents and siblings.

The grandparent perspective

• Grandparents report similar initial reactions to the birth of a child with disabilities as typically reported by parents: shock, anger, fear for the future and sadness.
• It has been suggested that these feelings arise from the fact that grandparents’ ‘perfect’ grandchild has not arrived.
• There is little support available to grandparents. Many grandparents report that professionals forget the extended family, and they are hesitant about burdening the child’s parents at this time.
• Good news! – As with parents, the vast majority of grandparents adapt well to their grandchildren with disabilities.
• Grandparents in research describe very positive feelings for their grandchild with a disability and greatly value their relationship with these children.
• Models in the literature describe support groups where people can share their experiences and support each other. Grandparents have been reported as having positive views on such groups.

A recent research study

• Most research on grandparents has been conducted outside the UK.
• There are lots of unanswered questions about the role of grandparents in families of children with disabilities.

A small team at the University of Southampton conducted a study in 1999 looking at families with Down Syndrome. Parents were contacted through the Wessex Down Syndrome Association, and members of 37 families agreed to participate. Parents also gave us contact details for grandparents who were interested in helping with the research. In the end, 64 parents and 33 grandparents completed research questionnaires.

Aims

• To address the extent of support provided by grandparents, but also to ask people about disagreements relating to the child.
• To test whether support and disagreements were related to parents’ reports of stress and worry.
• To explore the impact on grandparents of involvement with their grandchild with a disability.

Findings

• We failed to replicate previous findings in that mothers and fathers reported equal amounts of practical and emotional support from all grandparents across the families as a whole.
• Mothers reported that they had more disagreement with their own parents than with paternal grandparents. Fathers did not make this distinction.
• Parents’ stress and worry were reduced when the maternal grandmother provided higher levels of support.
• Parents’ stress and worries were increased when they had higher levels of disagreement with the maternal grandmother.
• Support and disagreement from other grandparents was not related to parents’ stress and worries.
• Grandparents also reported more stress and worry if they had higher levels of disagreement with the child’s parents.

Conclusions

• There is still a great deal of work needed to explore how grandparents might support families of children with disabilities.
• We know very little about what it means to grandparents to have a grandchild with a disability.
• It is important that professionals and families are sensitive to grandparents’ roles within the family, but also that they recognise that grandparents too need support.
• Statutory and voluntary agencies should be exploring ways of supporting the extended families of children with disabilities and making the most of a ‘natural’ support resource.

Useful Links for Grandparents

• Grandparents Association
  The first UK charity to be devoted to grandparents (founded in 1984). Several useful publications
• Contact a Family Factsheet: Grandparents - "Having a disabled child has an effect on the whole family, not just parents and siblings. As a grandparent, you may find yourself in an unfamiliar and sometimes difficult situation. The child's parents, brothers and sisters and other relatives may be looking to you for information and support at a time when you are trying to come to terms with the news that your grandchild has a disability. We hope that this factsheet will help you identify with some of the feelings and needs of other grandparents as well as highlighting a few ideas for those of you who are unsure how best to support the parents/carers of a disabled child."
• Grandparents Plus - "Promoting the role of kinship care and care by grandparents at all levels, particularly in circumstances of family breakdown, single parenthood or other difficult circumstances."
• ProudGrandparents.co.uk - "formed in late 2005 to offer a unique reference point on being a grandparent. Our concern was that there was no single UK resource for interesting features and practical advice on this subject. Our features and articles are written by professional journalists and experts - who have a particular interest, or a background in this area."

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Content author: webeditor@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 22/07/2008 10:47