Established Disabilities

Infants and young children with established disabilities have significant problems across various domains of development. As a consequence, their parents may face various challenges and difficul-ties in parenting (M. J. Guralnick, 2004). During the years of infancy (or from the time of diagnosis) and throughout early childhood, parents often have continuing needs to obtain information, iden-tify services for their child, and receive emotional support related to issues with which they are coping. Recently, the Web has become a major source for obtaining information and support, and it has been suggested that the Internet may be utilized to provide information and support to families as a valuable and convenient supplement to face-to-face service provision. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of Internet use for parents of children with disabilities, the im-plications of parents ’ Internet use for early intervention professionals, and recommendations for professionals interested in developing Web sites to provide information and support to parents. Key words: child disability, Internet, parents, professionals, support P ARENTS whose infants and young chil-dren with established disabilities have significant problems in cognitive, social-emotional, motor, or sensory domains of de-velopment face various challenges and diffi-culties in parenting (Guralnick, 2004). These challenges in turn create a set of stressors re-lated to parents ’ needs to obtain information, identify services for their child, cope with is-sues related to family support and interper-sonal relationships, and instill a sense of con-fidence in their ability to parent their child (Guralnick, 2001). In particular, following di-agnosis, parents have a high need for ob