[[alternative]]A Mother's Experience of Having a Developmentally Delayed Child

[[abstract]]In this study, a mother who had a young child with developmental delays was used as an example to illustrate the experience of having a special needs child in the family. Qualitative research design was selected in this case study in order to explore the detailed phenomena in the real word of the mother. Participant observation and in-depth interviewing were the main strategies used for data collection. Because of having difficulties in taking care of a youngest daughter, Bay-bay, the mother decided to quit the full-time job. Once the child was diagnosed as having developmental delays, the mother experienced grief and sorrow, but soon bravely looked for medical and educational resources for the child. Even though the delayed child had brought heavy care taking works for the mother, as the mother had reported, however she had successfully coped with the crisis and improved the relationships with her husband and mother-in-law. In this case, it is obviously that having a special needs child could truly effect the life of the mother. The mother had experienced great trauma, psychological struggling, and resources hunting, however, the fact of having a special child had allowed her to find ways to solve the existing problems in her marriage and family life. Keywords: mother, developmentally delayed child