Parents with learning disabilities and child protection - Literature review Example

This survey also revealed the fact that 48 per cent of these parents did not look after their children themselves. According to Booth (2000), there is a sizeable population of parents with special needs that the health and social services have not adequately addressed so far. In as many as 50 per cent of the total cases, children of such parents are taken away from them generally because of the concerns for the well-being of the children and lack of the care and attention that they need as they live with their parents (Tarleton, Ward, and Howarth, 2006, p. v). This imparts the need to study the tendency of parents with learning disabilities to be good parents and to provide their children with the protection they need with adequate support from the numerous agencies, entities, and organizations that render such services for these parents.

The negative coverage by press and reports discussing the concerns for children’s welfare and the inadequacies in techniques of parenting exacerbate this (Kroese et al, 2002). Consequently, parents with learning disabilities might need to prove to the concerned authorities that they have all the necessary qualities and skills to be a perfect parent. Nevertheless, even the definition of good parenting is inherently debatable especially in a society in which views and standards change frequently.

Most of the research conducted to date focuses upon inability of parents with learning disabilities to parent their children and the risks assumed by their children while the research on their capabilities to be a perfect parent is limited (Wade et al, 2008). The non-specification of the learning disability level, lack of common standards of parental competence, and small sizes of sample induce flaws in many studies. This topic relates to the social work because it addresses the concerns and well-being