Parental Perspectives on Curriculum Priorities for their Young Children with Disabilities

Abstract

Many parents of children with disabilities in Singapore have enrolled their children in school settings. Local literature is however lacking on what parents would like their children to learn at school. This pilot study examined parental perspectives on how much they valued three different curriculum skill areas for their young children with disabilities: functional academics, functional life skills, and social relationship skills. In addition, parents were asked to indicate whether they expected priority skill items within the three curriculum areas to be performed with assistance or independently. Results indicate differences in the parents' ratings of the curriculum skill areas. Parental expectations of their children's performance of priority skills across the curriculum areas also differed. Implications are discussed concerning parental input into curriculum, teachers' collaboration with parents to address curricular issues, and directions for research and practice.