Sensitivity in the mothers with intellectual disability: Review of literature
During last decades, the researchers noted an increase in the number of people with intellectual disability who became parents (McConnel, 2008; Pixa-Kettner, 2008). Few studies were interested in the sensitivity of the mothers with intellectual disability. However the maternal sensitivity is recognized as a factor which plays an important part for the quality of the attachment mother-child (de Wolf & van Ijzendoorn, 1997) and the global development of the child (Aunos, Goupil, & Feldman, 2004). A recension of the scientific writings was carried out on the parentality and the sensitivity of the people with intellectual disability. This article has as goals: 1) to better determine the phenomenon of the parentality by people with intellectual disability; 2) to describe the various factors which influence the quality of the parental relation and particularly the part played by the maternal sensitivity for this specific population. The discussion relates to the means to set up for supporting the parents with intellectual disability and of offering to their children optimum conditions for development.