What Do Parents Want in Parent Education?

Professionals who conduct intervention programs for parents of hearing impaired children often make assumptions about the informational needs of the parents; their programs provide information on specific topics, in particular order and level of detail. Mismatches between professionals' and parents' views of parental needs could undermine program effectiveness, leaving parents feeling the programs are unresponsive to their needs and wants. A survey of parents and professionals revealed that the two groups agreed that communication and education constitute the most important topics, a reflection of the general concordance between the two groups. Some differences of opinion did emerge, particularly regarding the timing of delivery of some categories of information. Implications for program design are discussed.