Category

Themes

1. Being at a loss as to what to do, due to the anxiety of not knowing what was wrong with the child

Feeling bewildered about was wrong with the child right after birth

Feeling surprised and anxious due to the medical devices attached to the newborn child

2. Primarily wanting to be of help to the mother

Doing things for the mother’s benefit

Avoiding saying anything that would be painful for their daughter to hear

3. Being happy just to look at their grandchild

Just seeing their grandchild made them happy, even though they couldn’t hold her/him

Being able to witness their grandchild’s developmental process to some extent made the child seem endearing

4. Supporting the child’s family indirectly

Taking on the housework for the family

Providing childcare other than medical care

Cooperating with everyone in the family to make daily life run smoothly

Feeling they were the only person the family had to help them out

5. Wanted to be more directly involved in providing care for their grandchild but it took them time to learn how to do so

Experiencing difficulties in deciding how to care for the child for due to their lack of responsiveness

Being afraid and stressed until they got used to caring for the child

Getting increasingly involved in the child’s care

Feeling that they themselves wanted to help after seeing how hard the child’s parents were trying to care for her/him

6. Being concerned about the child’s future care

Feeling concerned about taking care of their grandchild when they are much older

Concern about the child’s life after graduating from school

7. Learning to relate to the child despite the child’s unresponsiveness

Through daily involvement, learning to recognize changes in the child and understanding how to respond

Touching the child and talking to her made her seem endearing, even though she was unresponsive

The child seemed adorable despite being unresponsive because she was their grandchild

Realizing that the child differed from healthy children

8. The existence of their disabled grandchild made their life worth living

Wanting to live a long life to help with their grandchild’s care

Being able to look after their grandchildren because they live in the vicinity

Being inspired by their grandchild’s efforts

9. Not getting involved in caring for the child because the family did not want to depend on them for help

The family managed the child’s care without the grandparents’ help

Living too far away to be able to help out

10. Not getting involved in the child’s care but observing the child from a distance

Child-minding and observing the child from a distance

Involvement being limited to visiting the child occasionally

11. Being available to help but respecting the family’s boundaries

Helping the parents out with whatever they decide to do

Instead of looking after the disabled child, looking after the child’s healthy siblings