Background: There has been a dramatic increase in autism around the world. However, little is known about the impact of the Taiwanese primogeniture system on mothers of children with ASD. Greater knowledge is needed to understand the life experiences of Taiwanese mothers with ASD children when a healthy male descendent is expected. Materials and…

Background: Mothers with lifelong care responsibilities might involuntarily be non-employed or work part-time, both of which are defined as "underemployment." This study aimed to investigate who these underemployed mothers are and what are the factors associated with such employment hardship when having a child with intellectual…

Background: The universal breadwinner model means both parents are employed; while the universal caregiver model implies that the father's hours of caregiving are equal or higher to those of the mother. This study aims to examine the hypothesis that the universal caregiver model is more related to the overall well-being of mothers of children with…

Background: This study explored the experiences of working mothers with an adult child with intellectual disabilities to understand how they reconcile paid work and care responsibilities. Methods: Fifteen working mothers in Taiwan with an adult child with intellectual disabilities were interviewed, and an interpretative phenomenological approach…

Background: The disability policy in Taiwan has traditionally emphasized residential care in large institutions and, more recently, medium-sized group homes. This paper compares the relative costs, services provided and outcomes between the traditional institutions, medium-sized group homes and new small-scale community living units that were…

Background: Taiwanese family carers of people with intellectual disabilities not only suffer from long-term stress but also need to cope with social difficulties. The aim of this study is to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) among family carers of people with intellectual disabilities. Materials and methods: A census interview survey was…