The Ups and Downs of Down Syndrome: A Qualitative Study of Positive and Negative Parenting Experiences

Abstract

The current study sought to expand current literature by providing a comparison of the positive and negative experiences reported by parents of children with a Down syndrome (DS) diagnosis. A total of 435 participants from a national study were included in the current qualitative analysis based on responses to online survey data from two research questions asking parents to describe their most positive and most negative experiences in parenting their child with DS. Positive experiences themes included the following: impact on parents and other people, child’s achievements, social acceptance/connection, and everyday/everything/many. Negative experiences themes included medical experiences, lack of social acceptance/connection, the DS diagnosis, and the impact on parents and other people. Implications for professionals and future research are presented.