By assuming the parental role, parents face the challenge of educating. One of the adversities which can affect the family system is the birth of a child with intellectual disabilities. When it happens, it is natural for the family to question the education plan. Therefore, the objective of this research was to identify the educational practices used by parents of 3 to 6 year old children with typical and atypical development (intellectual disabilities and Down's syndrome) and the parental stress level. The method includes descriptive and inferential analysis. 61 parents participated in this research, whose results confirmed the hypothesis that different parental practices are chosen by different groups of parents, and that parents of children with intellectual disabilities are more stressed than the other parents. The hypothesis that the age of the children influences the parental practices was contradicted. This research concluded that parents of children with intellectual disabilities need a support network to guide their educational practices. New researches and programs to deal with these families should be done in order to minimize the stress level and support efficient educational practices.
parental practices; parental stress; parental beliefs; family behavior; intellectual disability
