The development of disabled children is influenced by family relationships, especially by the way parents deal with the child and the disability. Nonetheless, despite its importance, little is known about the overall functioning of these families. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the characteristics of family relationships of children with disabilities (hearing, intellectual, physical, multiple, and visual) from the perspective of mothers (n=16), parents (n=12), siblings (n=10) and the children with disabilities themselves (n=16), focusing mainly on the relationships in the parental, conjugal and fraternal subsystems. A semi-structured interview was carried out with each participant individually in their homes, and one parent replied a questionnaire to characterize the family system. The results show that parenting practices are perceived as coercive, even if there is harmony, dialogue and sharing the care of children. Conjugal relations are seen as predominantly satisfactory, although there are conflicts. In the sibling relations, there were frequent reports about conflict, harmony, care/protection and cohesion/unity among siblings. The perception of family relationships vary in function of the type of disability of the child in relation to parenting educational practices, values/beliefs present in the children's education, marital conflicts and conflicts among siblings. The results indicate an urgent need to investigate the communication patterns in families with children with different disabilities, aiming at the elaboration of proposals for education and re-education related to the typical functioning of each type of family.
Family Relationship; Disability; Family