Dévoués ou sacrifiés ? Les parents d’enfants handicapés au Québec : luttes, adaptations, résistances (1940-1960)

Abstract

Based on a corpus of interviews and social work theses, this article examines the lives of parents of disabled children in Quebec between 1940 and 1960. It aims to determine the extent to which families raising a child with a disability were conceptualized as “Others” and marginalized by a biomedical discourse that placed the burden of disability on them. It argues that despite sometimes strained relationships with health professionals, families used various strategies to resist or adapt, thereby reducing their dependence towards the omnipresence of the therapeutic dimension in their lives.