Fathering a Child with a Disability in India: A Perspective from Mumbai (Report‪)‬

According to the 2001 census of India (as reported on in Mitra & Sambamoorthi, 2006), individuals with disabilities constitute about 2% of the total population in India. Of these, nearly half (48.55%) have a visual impairment; the next most numerous group is those with a locomotor disability (27.87%), followed by those with mental retardation (10.33%). The large population of people with disabilities poses unique challenges in terms of social, educational, and occupational mainstreaming. The task is uphill, despite the efforts of both government and nongovernment organizations (Mishra & Gupta, 2006). Awareness of and understanding about disability is low. For example, according to Chaturvedi and Malhotra (1983), many consider mental retardation to be a curable "illness." It is also common to find fatalistic attitudes to explain disability, such as blaming external factors (e.g., poverty, violence, and accidents) (Dalal & Pande, 1999). Although, traditionally, a father's involvement in a disabled child's life was limited to shouldering the financial responsibility and making some major decisions regarding the child's future, recent studies point toward a more comprehensive involvement by fathers. The present article will provide a review of father involvement perspectives, research, and practices in India and draw implications for further research and practice. The article also integrates findings from the author's own study with fathers of children with a disability in the city of Mumbai, India.