Stressors and difficulties in early intervention programs in Jordan from the employee’s perspective

Abstract

Early childhood is crucial in building and shaping the personalities of children with disabilities, where employees dealing with such children face a lot of challenges. This study aimed to identify problems and challenges faced during early intervention programs in Jordan from employees’ perspectives. We conducted a questionnaire-based study on 350 from a population of 4000 employees working in early intervention programs from Jordan’s North, Central, and South territories. Participants responded to the problem and challenges scale, containing 32 items distributed over five dimensions. The findings of this study showed that employees at special education centers in Jordan who work in early intervention programs said they typically faced moderate issues and difficulties. The most significant issues and difficulties that Jordan’s early intervention programs faced were the absence of interactive cooperation among employees and the flexibility of the programs. Factor analysis of the studied items showed that, apart from the social dimension, the items of all other dimensions of the research instrument were influenced by a diverse set of underlying factors. There were no statistically significant differences in the challenges and problems facing early intervention programs in Jordan due to the employees’ gender, academic qualification, and experience. Finally, this study offered suggestions and recommendations for enhancing early intervention services and programs, putting additional rehabilitation into place, and implementing ongoing training for professionals in this sector.