Disabled yet intact: Guidelines for work with congenitally physically disabled youngsters and their parents

This paper presents the viewpoint that congenitally physically children, having never been nondisabled, may experience themselves disabled yet intact, with the disability an integral part of their identity. However, society, with its pervasively negative attitudes toward disability, perceives disabled people as incomplete, defective, and deviant. Hence, congenitally disabled children face the difficult dilemma of integrating these two divergent views of themselves. Parents and professionals are offered guidelines to facilitate the resolution of this dilemma; however, they must first carefully scrutinize their own attitudes toward disability so that these do not unwittingly impede the parenting and treatment processes.Harilyn Rousso is director, Disabilities Unlimited, Counseling and Consultative Services; consultant on women and disability, YWCA of N.Y.C.; chairperson, Association of Mental Health Practitioners with Disabilities.