Their children expressed worry, anxiety and stress since the events of October 7 and the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
The train station in Tel Aviv during the alarm / Yoav Ityel
Families raising a child with a disability face many difficulties and complexities on a daily basis.
These difficulties create a confrontation on many fronts, especially in the financial aspect and the therapeutic burden and the integration of the needs of the child with the disability with the needs of the other family members.
A new study conducted among 350 parents of teenagers and adults, aged six months to 21, with disabilities, including autism, mental, physical or combined disabilities, reveals that many of the children are exposed to the events that took place in Israel and react to them in a difficult way, which is manifested, among other things, in emotional and functional difficulties and withdrawal from developmental achievements that they acquired with great effort.
The findings of the research conducted by Dr. Yael Karni-Wiesel, Dr. Sagit Lev and Dr. Naomi Verloff-Becker from Bar Ilan University and Dr. Dana Roth, head of the research unit at Beit Izzi Shapira, reveal a decrease in family quality of life indicators in general, of parents of children with disability and of the children themselves.
since the outbreak of the war.
The parents pointed out that there is a decrease of about 44 percent in regards to the participation of children with disabilities in enrichment activities and taking care of them, classes and hobbies whose existence is very necessary for their development, and without which they retreat.
Additional findings show a 26 percent decrease in the parents' ability to go to work, because they are required to stay with their child when he does not have a framework, and an 18 percent decrease in support from organizations that assist in the field of disability.
Along with these difficulties, families of children with disabilities have to deal with the mental difficulties that have arisen among their children due to the changes that have taken place and due to the lack of routine and help.
The new reality also creates exposure to alarms, explosive sounds and traumatic events, which create functional difficulties among the children, and especially aggravation of emotional and behavioral symptoms.
These, combined with the lack of frameworks and the damage to the routine, caused a withdrawal from the developmental achievements that the children acquired with great effort before the war.
The military activity increased the outbursts of anger of the children with disabilities/IDF spokesman
Increase in angry outbursts, increased difficulties in sleeping
26 percent of the parents who participated in the study said that their children expressed worry, anxiety and stress since the events of October 7 and the outbreak of the war in Gaza, 15 percent responded with behavioral difficulties, 13 percent responded with angry outbursts, 11.5 percent with emotional difficulties, 8 percent reported functional disorders, 7 percent responded with boredom And inaction, 6.5 percent reported that their children experienced sleep problems, another 5.5 percent reported restlessness and tension among their children, and another 5.5 percent reported that the children had become introverted and withdrawn since the outbreak of the war.
The parents also experience the October events and their children's reaction to the situation in a way that makes their daily functioning difficult.
The findings of the study show that their mental well-being was significantly damaged (a significant decrease of 29 percent on average), and that they experience increased irritability, guilt, anger and loneliness, as well as difficulties in life functions, including damage to relationships, damage to work and heavy workload.
The data indicate that the mental well-being of mothers was more affected than the mental well-being of fathers.
Along with the problems and difficulties that the parents pointed out, they also pointed to a number of positive factors that helped in coping: the factors of treatment and education upon returning to activity, as well as maintaining the routine and the level of activity in the newly created reality.
According to the authors of the study, "the analysis of the data indicates a negative effect of the war on the functioning of most of the children with disabilities, and indicates the appearance and worsening of emotional and behavioral symptoms and a withdrawal from the developmental achievements they have acquired. To deal with the events of the war and their consequences for the children, the mental well-being of parents of children with disabilities was damaged and their families. Attention must be paid as soon as possible to the increased sensitivity of children with disabilities and their parents at this time through dedicated and increased support and adaptation of environmental resources to their needs. This must be done, among other things, by maintaining a therapeutic sequence, and creating leisure alternatives suitable for this time. The professionals must be aware of the situation development setbacks and adjustment difficulties, and to assist in locating and strengthening the personal and family capacity of families of children with disabilities."
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