Adaptation and accommodation to young children with disabilities: A comparison of Korean and Korean American parents

This article presents a comparative study of the adaptation of Korean and K orean American parents to their children with developmental disabilities. R epeated interviews with 16 mothers in each group were designed to elicit pa rental descriptions of the major chronological events concerning their chil d, process of adaptation and accommodation, sources of stress and support, and perceived benefits and contributions to their lives. The interviews wer e conducted in Korean, transcribed, translated, and analyzed in a structure d procedure in keeping with one major tradition of qualitative research. Co mparative cross-cultural research allows investigators to see taken-for-gra nted phenomena that might otherwise go unseen. The study revealed that both Korean and Korean American parents experienced a process of transformation in regard to their beliefs and feelings about their exceptional children. Religion played an important role in this process. Public policy, social se rvices, and available resources were dramatically different in the two nati ons, and these differences suffused parental accounts of their individual e xperiences. The similarities and differences between the two groups are pre sented thematically. The findings are further discussed in relation to majo r theories about adaptation in families of young children with disabilities .