The Emergence of Eric: Co-Therapy in the Treatment of a Family with a Disabled Child

This paper focuses on the problem of socialization of the disabled child within his family. For the family of the disabled child, socialization is doubly challenging; the family must teach its child not only how to be human, but also how to be disabled in the larger society. Often families of disabled children need help in enhancing their child's participation in family life — a critical aspect of socialization. One highly effective means of assisting families in this task is the use of family therapy. A case study is included to illustrate the use of family interviewing with a congenitally blind adolescent boy. Two therapists — a rehabilitation counselor (who is blind) from a state agency serving blind children^a and a social worker from a child guidance agency^b— collaborated in working with the family, which included a mother, father, their congenitally blind thirteen-year-old boy, and his two sighted brothers. The authors conclude that the child's family is the most potentially powerful resource for the successful habilitation of the disabled child into larger society and postulate family treatment as an effective means of attaining this end.