Raising Children with Disabilities: A Critical Understanding of the Lived Experiences of Chinese Immigrant Parents in Canada

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dc.contributor.advisorHughson, E. Anne
dc.contributor.advisorMilaney, Katrina J.
dc.contributor.authorFang, Xiao Yang
dc.contributor.committeememberLashewicz, Bonnie M.
dc.contributor.committeememberNelson, Fiona
dc.contributor.committeememberMcConnell, David B.
dc.contributor.committeememberEl-Lahib, Yahya
dc.date2020-11
dc.date.accessioned2020-07-10T14:05:08Z
dc.date.available2020-07-10T14:05:08Z
dc.date.issued2020-07-07
dc.description.abstractPeople with disabilities are widely disadvantaged and often excluded from participating fully in society and its major institutions. Negative societal attitudes towards disabilities as well as restrictive social policies and practices frequently lead people with disabilities, as well as their families, to experience stigma and social isolation. Little is known about the experiences of immigrant parents raising children with disabilities, whose marginalization may be compounded by the additional challenges faced in the process of transition and adapting to a new country and culture. Through the examination of lived experiences of first-generation Chinese immigrant parents raising children with disabilities in Calgary, Canada, this qualitative study provides a deeper understanding of the complexity of the immigrant disability experience and how it is related to the ways in which dominant political ideologies and related policies and practices respond to and manage disability. Using hermeneutic phenomenology and in-depth interviews with 11 Chinese immigrant parents, I explore meaning- and decision-making as these parents navigate the social processes and structures of assessment, diagnosis, intervention, and service provision for their children. Employing a critical social theory lens in my analysis, I unpack the question, “how does dominant neoliberal ideology and a medically-informed view of disability systemically influence the lives of Chinese immigrant parents raising children with disabilities?” The phenomenological experience of being a Chinese immigrant parent to children with disabilities manifests itself through the themes of transformation, capacity for choice, and hope. In essence, becoming a parent to a child with a disability is a transformative experience that has significant impacts on the choices that parents are subsequently forced to make and the hopes they have for what will become of their children. Critical analysis further reveals that structural processes exclude parents from acquiring knowledge and power regarding how diagnoses are performed and how access to services is negotiated. Silently and invisibly, Chinese immigrant parents are wilfully assimilated into a new language and culture of understanding and responding to disability, and subsequently of understanding their children. Findings from this interpretive investigation offer insights into the struggles and sacrifices that Chinese immigrant parents raising children with disabilities experience and provides suggestions for more inclusive future directions.en_US
dc.identifier.citationFang, X. Y. (2020). Raising Children with Disabilities: A Critical Understanding of the Lived Experiences of Chinese Immigrant Parents in Canada (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/37994
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/112272
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyCumming School of Medicineen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectCritical Social Theory, Disability Studies, Phenomenology, Chinese Immigrants, Lived Experience, Culture, Canadaen_US
dc.subject.classificationEducation--Bilingual and Multiculturalen_US
dc.subject.classificationEducation--Social Sciencesen_US
dc.subject.classificationEthnic and Racial Studiesen_US
dc.subject.classificationIndividual and Family Studiesen_US
dc.subject.classificationPublic and Social Welfareen_US
dc.subject.classificationSociology--Theory and Methodsen_US
dc.titleRaising Children with Disabilities: A Critical Understanding of the Lived Experiences of Chinese Immigrant Parents in Canadaen_US
dc.typedoctoral thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineMedicine – Community Health Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrueen_US
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