The purpose of this study was to investigate the demands of the parents of the children with mental retardation and to suggest fundamental information for the development of the desirable contents of the education for the parent education program. For...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the demands of the parents of the children with mental retardation and to suggest fundamental information for the development of the desirable contents of the education for the parent education program. For this purpose, the realities of the contents composition and operating methods of the parent education program were investigated, and the differences in the demands for the contents composition and operating methods were examined according to the ages, the schooling and the living levels of the parents, and also examined according to the school levels of their children. Of the 320 questionnaires distributed to the parents of the children with mental retardation, 291 copies were statistically processed and the results were used to investigate the realities of the education of the parents and their levels of demands.
The general investigation of tlie realities of the contents composition and the operating methods of the parent education program was conducted in terns of frequency and percentage, and tlie verification b y Chi-square(x? was applied. The differences in the demands for the contents of the education of the parents in terms of the sub-scales were evaluated by t-test and variable analysis. And the item of the highest preference was investigated among the items of the questionnaires.
The major outcomes are as follows:
First, the contents composition of the education of the parents of the children with mental retardation showed that the knowledge and skills necessary for the education of their children and the information on the disabled children occupied the greatest part, and teachers chose the contents of the education of the parents for the most part.
The operation was carried out as a whole free of charge, and the education was conducted for two hours in most cases. The messengers of the education of the parents were mostly teachers and the lecture meetings were the most frequent in the education.
Second, the contents of the education which the parents were most anxious for were such contents as were related to the policies of welfare for the disabled. Those who should be in charge of the education of the parents were preferred in the order of teachers, professors, and therapists. And the parents wanted the selection of the contents of the education of the parents to be conducted through the discussion with themselves. They also wanted the education to be executed once a month, and the hours of the education to be varied according to the contents. This may be interpreted as suggesting that, if the education of the parents is chosen and operated as various contents in which the needs and concerns of the parents are reflected, many of them will participate. However, the lowest level of the demands is shown as regards the contents of the operation of the parents’ associations like the activities and roles of the parents. This implies that the parents of the children with mental retardation who have difficulty with activities for themselves, compared with other areas of the disabled, need to be taught the fact that the activities of the parents’ associations can represent the disabled and can be connected directly with the establishment of the welfare policies and the improvement of the situations of the children with mental retardation.