Parent Characteristics and Educational Program Involvement

Researchers have noted the apparently contradictory phenomenon of parents highly supportive of their deaf or hard of hearing child but apparently uninvolved with their child s school program (e.g., Bennet, 1988; Boone, 1992; Harry, 1993). This study explored this phenomenon by asking: What are the characteristics of these children s care providers? What is the nature of involvement? Is there a relationship between involvement or noninvolvement and parents characteristics? One hundred and five parents of deaf children ages 2 to 8 years in five U.S. cities were interviewed to ascertain the characteristics of those providing care for these children and their ability to respond to educational program initiatives requiring a specific set of values as well as certain personal resources. The authors found that (1) there are distinct subgroups of parents with distinct capabilities for responding to their children s educational needs; (2) there are different forms of response to a child s educational needs; (3) there is an interaction between parent type and nature of the response.