Learning disability imagined differently: an evaluation of interviews with parents about discovering that their child has down's syndrome.

This article presents findings of a qualitative research study evaluating interviews with eight parents about their experience of discovering their child has Down's Syndrome. The article presents five themes emerging from a qualitative research study using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as an evaluation method. The themes comprise what it is that makes a life worth living, the loss of an illusion, the language we use to speak about learning disability, the myths that surround it and wider issues of belonging. The diagnosis of a child with Down's Syndrome confronts parents with neoliberal values, that are underpinned by the idea that happiness and fulfilment are derived from independence, success and economic productivity. As a learning disabled child is welcomed into the family, an opportunity is presented to question our assumptions and beliefs about learning disability, to re-evaluate what we mean by normal, to challenge neoliberal values and to imagine disability differently. This article illustrates the complex issues that arise for parents on the diagnosis of a baby with Down's syndrome. The arrival of a learning-disabled child in the family is an opportunity to challenge neoliberal ideas that equate happiness and fulfilment with independence and economic productivity. The interviews illustrate how an experience of welcoming a child with Down's Syndrome into the family can offer opportunities for personal growth. It can be hard to find a language to speak about learning disability and the language available to us reflects a complicated history of how learning disability is perceived. Listening to the experience of loss shared by parents of children with Down's Syndrome can help us connect to the uncertain futures of all children in a precarious world. To imagine disability differently involves perceiving difference itself as an opportunity to discover new ways of participating in communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]