The Contrastive Study of Mental Health Status of the Mothers of Exceptional Children (Deaf and Blind) In Special Educational System with Combined Educational System

Abstract

Having healthy children is the greatest Gods’ gift to human. But on the other hand having exceptional children (deaf and blind) puts a lot of psychological pressure on the family members especially the mothers. As usual, parents send these children to special educational centers. Some of these children are sent to normal schools and are taught under the name of the combined education. The present research paper is a contrastive study of mental health status of the mothers of exceptional children (deaf and blind) in special educational system with that of combined educational system. In this descriptive-analytical study subjects were 176 mothers of exceptional children (deaf and blind) in the combined educational system of the Hamedan city. Using random sampling, a group of mothers with children of special educational system were also selected. Major statistical method used in this research was the General Mental Health questionnaire (GHQ-28). Later, data obtained were analyzed using descriptive and deductive statistics. Results show generally there is no significant difference between the mental health status of mothers with exceptional children in both special and combined educational systems. But the depression level in both groups was relatively high. This study showed that the mothers with exceptional children enjoyed lower mental health and were in higher levels of depression.