THE EXPERIENCE OF MOTHERS OF ADULT CHILDREN WITH A PROFOUND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY IN POLAND

Little is known about the experience of mothers who take care of adult children with a profound intellectual disability. The aim of this study was to explore this experience from their perspective. Mothers raising adult children with a profound intellectual disability present a type of a maternity that differs from the commonly accepted model of mother and woman. I conducted narrative interviews with 32 Polish mothers from this group. The interviewees were chosen deliberately, based on the age of the adult children (they were more than 25 years old- at that moment a person with a profound intellectual disability has to terminate education in Poland). Each interviewee signed a written consent of the participation in the study. The respondents' ages varied between 50 and 78 years. The women were from different regions of Poland, were single mothers and divorced. During the interviews I tried to emphasise and understand their motherhood. The choice of a qualitative method required from me to abandon the privileged position of a distant observer. The study was conducted in Poland between September 2016 and January 2018. Narrative conversations show that this group of women struggles with many difficult experiences and emotions related to their existence. Women- mothers characterized their motherhood as a one of the most important events in life.