This thesis places significant emphasis on the experience of parenting a child with a disability and the concept of self-care. The theoretical part includes 4 sections that are important for understanding the topic and represent different denominations and definitions of children with disabilities, dynamics of a family with a child with a disability, challenges experienced by such a family and psychophysical health of parents. I write about social constructions, care for a child with a disability, relationships, needs, process of coping, resistance, leisure, parental stress and burnout. Special attention has been dedicated to (parental) self-care, which is the central theme of research. In the empirical part I wonder how successful the parents are in achieving a balance between the demands of the disease or child's disability and their own needs. Of interests in the study were: nature of challenges and changes parents of children with disabilities face, the amount of time parents have left for themselves while caring for a child with a disability, the most common reasons for parents (over)burdening in the parental role, ways of managing psychological strains and ways of self-care. Finally yet importantly, I was interested in their sources of power that give them a sense of self-worth. The purpose of the research is to give parents a voice to talk about experiencing parenting and their own wellbeing. Qualitative research is based on eight interviews with parents of children with disabilities. The findings demonstrate that caring for a child with a disability requires various forms of care, often constant supervision and support from an adult. Parents experience a psychological strain that is not necessarily related only to care work, but is the result of a combination with other external factors. Parental self-care is often neglected, despite the fact that parents are aware of its importance. Possible proposals, formulated on the basis of results, are aimed primarily at relieving parents of the strain that caring for a child with a disability entails.
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