Compreendendo a família da criança com deficiência física ; Understanding the family of the physically disabled child

This descriptive, qualitative study aimed at identifying how low-income families manage to restructure themselves after giving birth to a child who is physically disabled due to Chronic Childhood Encephalopathy. Parents (n=11) from eight nuclear families with a physically disabled child attending a physiotherapeutic clinic/school in Salvador (Bahia, Brazil) were selected for semi-structured interviews followed by a socioeconomic and cultural survey. Through content analysis, data were grouped into eight thematic axes showing that among the many difficulties faced by those families were the loss of the object of desire, a decrease in income and social contacts, and emotional imbalance, which comprised the internal and external factors both contributing to an increased family stress and exerting heavy influence on family interactions. Families were shown to face their adversity by devising strategies for adaptation and solution seeking. It could be concluded that new ways of restructuring took place so that balance could be kept. A greater family and societal mobilization is needed towards the creation or support of public policies designed to validate the physically disabled as subjects and citizens. Given the importance of the matter and the paucity of studies in the field, further research should be carried out on the dynamics of family behavior for a better evaluation of the impact of physical disability on family structure. ; Este trabalho procurou identificar de que forma famílias de baixa renda se reestruturam após o nascimento de uma criança com deficiência física determinada por Encefalopatia Crônica da Infância. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo de cunho qualitativo que empregou a técnica de análise de conteúdo agrupado em eixos temáticos construídos a partir da leitura e análise de entrevistas. Foram selecionadas 08 (oito) famílias nucleares em cujo seio houvesse uma criança com deficiência física que freqüentasse uma clínica escola de Fisioterapia em Salvador, Bahia, 2004. Pais e mães destas crianças ...