Quality of life in families of children with disabilities.

This review of the literature examines the impact of poverty on the quality of life in families of children with disabilities. Twenty-eight percent of children with disabilities, ages 3 to 21, are living in families whose total income is less than the income threshold set by the U.S. Census Bureau. This review found a variety of impacts of poverty on the five dimensions of family, including health (e.g., hunger, limited health care access); productivity (e.g., delayed cognitive development, limited leisure opportunities); physical environment (e.g., overcrowded and unclean homes, unsafe neighborhoods); emotional well-being (e.g., increased stress, low self-esteem); and family interaction (e.g., inconsistent parenting, marital conflict over money). Implications of the findings for policy, research, and practices are suggested. If you have no money, it's very difficult to be? to do? to be together, to do fun things, to be at peace, to come home to a haven.... Because if you have no money, the bills not paid, you not gonna rest when you get home. You might have a good family, you know, a good husband, whatever, whatever. But, you don't have money, all that can go down the drain, so . . . . Money provides a way of release. You can go on a vacation, maybe, once a year, whereas if you don't have the money, you won't be able to do that. You can? you can pay your bills. Whereas if you don't have money, you won't be able to do that. And when you can't do those things, you have this feeling of insecurity which floods over into other problems, emotionally. Anger, bitterness, and then it jumps off on the other family members and you got chaos. (Beach Center, 1999) I'm trying to fight so much and do so much to get a house, so they can have their own room, have a larger place to live in, because a lot of apartment we in now, everybody is right on top of one another. And then, I stay upset because they are always fighting, and I know if I get a larger place they won't be doing this. And what I'm afraid of is they gonna constantly do this as they grow older. (Beach Center, 1999) These quotations from respondents in focus groups of families of children with disabilities reveal some of the life demands associated with poverty and Exceptional Children Exceptional Children 151 show how the quality of life of families can be affected because of poverty. They also put a human face on research data. As of 1997, more than a fifth of American children lived in families with cash incomes below the poverty level (Dalaker & Naifeh, 1998). Significantly, recent demographic studies have found a growing relationship between poverty and risk for disability (Fujiura & Yamaki, 2000; Kaye, LaPlante, Carlson, & Wenger, 1996; Seelman & Sweeney, 1995). For example, the longitudinal estimates done by Fujiura and Yamaki (2000) indicated a significant increase in the rate of childhood disability over the past 14 years among constituencies defined by poverty and singleparent headed families. The impact of home and family factors (e.g., income, parent education, language background) were found in 900 school districts in Texas to contribute 49% to student achievement, whereas teacher qualifications contributed 43% and class size 8% (Ferguson, 1991). It is becoming increasingly evident that poverty has a tremendous impact on the educational results of all children, including those with disabilities. Thus, poverty is not a secondary topic in the field of special education services and disability policy anymore. Achieving IDEA'S intended results of independence, productivity, equal opportunity, and inclusion is significantly complicated by complex factors associated with poverty.