"I Do Not Think She Will Understand, This is Not a Situation for a Girl Like Her:" Disenfranchised Grief Among Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in the Ultra-orthodox Jewish Society.

This article investigates the experiences of aging ultra-Orthodox Jewish families living alongside a person with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in the context of parental illness, death, and subsequent grief. Based on in-depth interviews with 14 family units (43 participants), three main themes emerged: the difficulty of addressing parental illness and death with a family member with IDD within ultra-Orthodox cultural norms; the frequent exclusion of persons with IDD from parents' funerals and memorial events; and the use of religious ceremonies as coping mechanisms for mourning among persons with IDD. The study highlights how cultural religiosity shapes grief experiences and contributes to disenfranchised grief—where persons with IDD are denied social recognition and support in mourning—within this faith-based community, and it offers culturally sensitive therapeutic recommendations for professionals working with such families.