Children with Special Needs: Parents Perception and Coping Mechanism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71637/tnhj.v25i3.1158Keywords:
Perception, Parents , Coping mechanisms, Affected children, Special needsAbstract
Background: The process of caring for children with special needs is congested with challenges, yet parents should be loving in the face of being physically, emotionally and financially drained. The study assessed categories of children with special needs, as well as the perception and coping mechanisms of parents with affected children in Auchi Metropilis.
Methods: A descriptive survey of 132 parents of children with special needs. The instrument for data collection was a Researchers-developed Questionnaire. The reliability was established through the test-retest method using Cronbach’s alpha which yielded co-efficient of 0.859. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 24 and reported in the form of frequency, percentages, bar-chart, mean and standard deviation.
Results: Majority of children with special needs had physical disability, while others had co-existing disabilities. Parents had negative perception of the child with special needs with mean score of 2.71+1.007. The coping mechanism used by most parents were active coping, social support, turning to religion, mental disengagement and acceptance. Significant associations also existed between perception and the parents’ gender, age, religion, marital status, level of education, occupation and the position of the child with the special needs (X2 = 65.45, 54.33, 89.23, 49.63, 67.21, 57.21).
Conclusion: Parents of affected children had negative perception but commonly employed active coping, social support, religion, mental disengagement and acceptance as coping mechanisms. LGAs should have a Facility charged with the responsibility of following up children with special needs and support the parents to cope with the challenge.
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