In 2020, Eline Desimpelaere obtained her Master’s degree in Educational Sciences at Ghent University, Main Subject Clinical Special Needs Education and Disability Studies. She finished her studies with a master's thesis on the parenting experiences of parents raising a child with Down syndrome and completed her master's internship at the Center for Ambulatory Rehabilitation Overleie for children with developmental disabilities. After graduating, she worked for a year in MFC De Kindervriend, where she supported children with intellectual disabilities and their families. Through daily contact with parents of children with complex care needs, but also by experiencing what it means to care – on a daily basis - for these children, Eline became captivated by the variation in resilience and adaptation among these parents. During these years, her research ambition grew significantly and she desired to more fundamentally unravel this variation among parents of children with complex care needs.
In October 2021, Eline started as a PhD student at the Department of Special Needs Education under the supervision of Prof. dr. Sarah De Pauw (Department of Special Needs Education, UGent) and the co-supervision of Prof. dr. Bart Soenens (Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, UGent) and Prof. dr. Peter Prinzie (Clinical Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam). Her research focuses on feelings of parental burnout in parents of children with complex care needs (Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy and Down syndrome). In this research, she aims to improve the understanding of parental burnout feelings in these parents and pave the paths towards more tailored parent support to promote the well-being of families of children with complex care needs.
A complete list of publications and contact information can be foundhere.
