Parental Satisfaction and Involvement in the Provision of Early Childhood Special Education to their Young Children with Deafness

Abstract

This qualitative study was planned to investigate into parental satisfaction and engagement in the availability of Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) to their deaf young children studying in Govt. Deaf and Defective Hearing Schools (GDDHS) in Punjab, Pakistan. The parents of 989 deaf young children constituted the population of study. A representative sample of parents of eighty-two children who gave their consent to participate in the study was taken from ten schools at district level located in four zones of the Punjab. A semi structured and open ended interview protocol consisting of three parts (Part 1=Demographic information about children and their parents, Part 2= Parental Contentment, Part 3= Engagement of parents) was employed. The interviews were recorded on audio tape, Afterwards, transcription was made and codes were assigned. Thematic analysis was done and data was presented in tabulated form. Frequencies were run. Major findings showed that majority of parents were not contented with speech, speech reading, and reading identification skills in their children. Majority of them were not involved in teaching to their children due to being illiterate. They had no guidance about teaching to their young deaf children. On the basis of results, suggestions to Punjab Special Education Department were made.