Supporting Grieving Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

Grief and Developmental Disabilities Developmental disability is a state that limits a person's potential to have control over a situation, especially in grieving periods. It is imperative to note that developmental disabilities start during the developmental period and usually last throughout a person’s lifetime, impacting such persons functioning, thus the need for interventions to help such characters cope with life situations. While arguing about bereavement, it is wise to note that this period defines loneliness and sadness to the victim attributed to a loss of a loved one or family member through death or divorce. Coping with such a situation calls for defined strength which is very limited in persons with developmental disabilities. According to Clute (2007), it is unfortunate that community and caregivers remain ill-prepared to assist people with developmental disabilities when they face bereavement, assuming that they go through the same grieving process as the general population that does not suffer from any form of developmental disability. Unfortunately, such ignorance worsens the grieving process, making life quite challenging for persons with developmental disabilities. When people in their adulthood process their life experiences and express the self-regulation capacity of children, it is an expression of limited abilities to face life situations and make the right decisions attributed to developmental disabilities. What would happen when a person with a developmental disability is aware of the death loss, but the family fails to take such a person to the funeral? Death notification itself can significantly affect such people as they would start thinking that everybody around them will die. According to Clute (2007), people with DD have limited control over their lives; thus, such news can expose them to fears of losing all loved ones around them, significantly affecting their urge to live if no support interventions...