owledge that a disabling condition exists.
In such instances, or even when a couple has chosen to give birth to a child with a severe disability and rear that child in the family home, Lareau (2003) comments that the entire family will be subject to multiple stressors that can fragment the family, make coping difficult at best, and lead to the establishment of a sense of ongoing crisis. The many psycho-social difficulties confronting parents in such situations were discussed by Sen and Yurtsever (2007) who stated that disabled individuals comprise 10 percent of the population of developed countries and 12 percent in developing countries. Sen and Yurtsever (2007, p. 238) claim that "the birth of a child with an abnormality or the presentation of a handicap being diagnosed as a disability is a crisis in which the parents' expectations are turned upside down."
Primary reactions to the birth of a severely disabled child include shock, denial, suffering, and depression (Sen & Yurtsever, 2007). The suffering experienced in this situation can be equal to that experienced with the loss of a loved one. The majority of parents become depressed when they believe that they do not have the strength or resources needed to cope with the responsibilities they must assume. Suffering and de
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