The role of fathers in the development of children with special needs has been emphasized in theoretical studies. The implications of these contributions to research in the field, however, are not clear. This paper presents a review of Brazilian and international studies published in the last 15 years in the field of fatherhood and children with special needs, focusing on the analysis of the main topics of research and methods used. A search was conducted in the PsycINFO international database and two Brazilian databases, Index Psi and the database of Dissertations and Theses organized by CAPES, which generated an initial list of 415 publications. Analysis of the list enabled an overview of scientific production in the field. The profiles of Brazilian and international studies were compared. There is a change in the configuration of research in this field, driven by theoretical contributions, although the father is not the main focus of such studies.
Father; Fatherhood; Special Educational Needs
