Paper Title
FAMILIES RAISING CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

Abstract
The birth of a child is a joyous event. However, this experience can be overshadowed when a child is born with a disability. It is known that parents raising children with any form of disability face a unique set of challenges that can impact various aspects of their lives. Intellectual disabilities, in particular, present numerous significant lifelong problems for parents bringing them up and these problems have a tendency to be even more pronounced as compared to other disabilities. The challenges encountered by the families raising such children has the ability to encompass numerous areas including their mental and physical well-being, familial relationships, social inclusion, career and finances. This paper explores the challenges faced by the families and caregivers while raising an intellectually disabled child. Keywords - intellectual disability, families of intellectual disabled, children with intellectual disability, caregivers, family stress