Home Literacy Activities: Perceptions and Practices of Hispanic Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate Hispanic parents' perceptions and practices with respect to home reading and writing activities. Participants included 80 Hispanic parents (40 parents of children with LD and 40 parents of AHA children) who had children in grades 3 through 5. Interview and survey questions addressed three issues: types of activities children do at home; types of activities parents perceive as desirable and feasible to do with their children; and facilitators and barriers parents face when implementing reading and writing activities. Nonparametric statistical procedures were used to analyze responses related to Likert-type survey items, and the constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was used to summarize data from the interviews. Hispanic parents of children with LD reported using a wide variety of reading and writing activities on a regular basis, but experienced frustration in helping their children at home. Findings also showed that parents of children with LD rated many reading and writing activities as desirable for learning to read and write but not as feasible for them to implement.