Quality of Life (QOL) among parents of Children with Severe Developmental Disabilities (CWSDD) has become an area of increasing interest in recent years. From the family perspective, dysfunction or illness in one family member has an impact on other family members. The present study aims to: 1) to evaluate Overall QOL in parents of CWSDD as compared to a control group; 2) To evaluate the QOL of parents of children within different types of Severe developmental disabilities 3) To compare the level of impairment in the QOL of mothers and fathers within developmental disabilities. The results indicated that parents of CWSDD scored lower in overall QOL compared to the control group. Among the severe developmental disabilities the order of the QOL were as follows (AD<MR<CP<HI). In all the groups, mothers were affected more than fathers. The results of this study may help rehabilitation professionals better understand the problems faced by parents of CWSDD and its impact on their QOL. Social support and different coping strategies should be developed for buffering parents from the stress of having a child with severe developmental disability.
Developmental Disabilities, Quality of Life, Autism, Mental Retardation, Cerebral Palsy, Hearing Impairment
