The article discusses parenting of individuals with disability. It was based on the perspective of barriers, which (next to the perspective of risk and the functional perspective) marks the nature of discourse this theme takes in the literature on the subject and in practice. The perspective of barriers, related to the social model of disability, emphasizes the social factors important for the quality of parenting of individuals with disability. These factors were analyzed on the basis of available research results with mothers and fathers with disability, and able-bodied individuals who are part of their professional and non-professional environment. The article draws attention to the specificity of socialization of individuals with disability and its significance for preparations for family roles, social attitudes towards disabled individuals’ parenting, and their determinants. It also presents disabled parents’ experiences and the importance of realizing their role of a mother or father.

The article presents research results of a study aimed at determining the correlation between empathy understood as a personality disposition and general attitudes towards individuals with disability. The sample consisted of 300 special education teachers working with persons with intellectual disabilities in primary and secondary schools and institutions of rehabilitation, and 280 general education teachers working with able-bodied students in primary and secondary schools. Two instruments were used: Empathic Understanding of Other People Questionnaire, and the Scale of Attitudes towards Individuals with Disability. In the group of special education teachers, only Syndrome 2 of empathy was statistically significant for shaping the attitudes, whereas among teachers, Syndromes 1, 3 and 4 were significant. In Syndromes 1, 2 and 4, including the highest level of emotional, cognitive, motivational and communication aspects of empathy, the correlations were positive as expected. In the case of Syndrome 3, including the considerable level of cognitive empathy, the correlation was negative.

The following article discusses the relationship between the model of intellectual disability and the attitudes towards sexuality of people with disabilities. This correlation has been verified during the author’s own research conducted on students of several medical faculties such as nursing, public health, emergency medical services and physiotherapy. Tools of the author’s design have been used in the research. Likert-type scale “Perspective of intellectual disability” has been used to determine the model of disability seen from the medical (individual) or social perspective. To examine the attitudes towards sexuality two tools of the author’s own design have been used: a Likert-type scale “The essence of sexuality in persons with an intellectual disability” which has been used to analyze the cognitive aspect of the attitudes, and a semantic differential with notions concerning physical and psychosocial aspects of sexuality including the affective-evaluative aspect. As expected, significant correlations have been found between the model and the attitudes both in the cognitive and the affective-evaluative aspect. Higher scores for the individual model correlated with: (a) lover scores for most aspects of sexuality of people with intellectual disability, (b) perceiving them as asexual, (c) biological determinism in the sexual sphere. The social model concurred with positive values given to sexuality of people with intellectual disability and its normalization in the sphere of its determinants and symptoms.

It is currently believed that functioning in family and professional roles can bring negative and positive experiences, indicating the development of competences useful in both areas. How these areas interact may indicate a particular type of balance achieved by the individual. Work-family balance is relatively well recognized in parents of non-disabled children, but to a lesser extent, in parents of disabled children. The article presents the results of the author's own research aimed at determining types of work-family interactions based on the results of conflict and enrichment in parents of disabled children and analyzing the influence of sociodemographic variables, characteristics of the child, parental satisfaction, and job satisfaction. 188 Polish mothers and fathers of children with selected types of disabilities participated in the study. Measures used: Work-Family Enrichment Scale by Carlson et al., The Work-Family Conflict Scale by Matthews et al., The Scale of Parenting Experiences (own construction), and The Work Satisfaction Scale by Zalewska. Four types were found: unbalanced parents experiencing strong conflict and poor enrichment; parents separating family and professional life (low conflict and enrichment); the blurred type with high conflict and enrichment; and balanced parents experiencing low conflict and high enrichment.