A Family Education Intervention for Parents Having Children with Multiple Disabilities during COVID-19

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been observed that the education stakeholders including families are caught unprepared. For this reason, it is thought that determining families’ educational needs regarding their children with multiple disabilities in the quarantine period are essential. In this study, it was aimed to determine the contribution of “Family Education Intervention in Pandemic” (FEIP) Training to families and their multiple disabled children. In the research, a multiple case study approach was used. Four mothers participated in the study. Online training in the study was carried out in 8 sessions. The data from the research were collected from multiple sources and analysed inductively by the triangulation method. In the research, it was revealed that FEIP supported mothers to realize their children's strengths, to increase their positive parenting skills, and to feel themselves competent in the daily routines of their child during the COVID-19 period.

Keywords

• multiple disability
• COVID-19
• online family education
• adult education

References

1. Ansari, M., & Yousefabad, S. A. (2020). Potential threats of COVID-19 on quarantined families. Public Health, 183, 1. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2020.04.014
2. Axelsson, A. K., Granlund, M., & Wilder, J. (2013). Engagement in family activities: a quantitative, comparative study of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities and children with typical development. Child: Care, Health and Development, 39(4), 523–534.
3. Bourke-Taylor, H., Cotter, C., & Stephan, R. (2015). Complementary, alternative, and mainstream service use among families with young children with multiple disabilities: Family costs to access choices. Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 35(3), 311–325. https://doi.org/10.3109/01942638.2014.975312
4. Brody, J. J. (2015). Decreasing the pervasive achievement gap between Latino and White students through targeted school-based, family-centered interventions. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Oregon Graduate School
5. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Harvard University Press.
6. Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., & Rubin, G. J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, 395(10227), 912–920. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8
7. Buzzi, C., Tucci, M., Ciprandi, R., Brambilla, I., Caimmi, S., Ciprandi, G., & Marseglia, G. L. (2020). The psycho-social effects of COVID-19 on Italian adolescents’ attitudes and behaviors. Italian Journal of Pediatrics, 46(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13052-020-00833-4
8. Cameron, D. (2001). Working with spoken discourse. Sage.

9. Can, E. (2020). Coronavirüs (Covid-19) pandemisi ve pedagojik yansımaları: Türkiye’de açık ve uzaktan eğitim uygulamaları [Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and pedagogical reflections: Open and distance education applications in Turkey]. Açıköğretim Uygulamaları ve Araştırmaları Dergisi, 6(2), 11–53. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/auad/issue/55662/761354
10. Cavkaytar, A., Ardıç, A., & Aksoy, V. (2014). Aile gereksinimlerini belirleme aracının geçerlik ve güvenirliğinin güncellenmesi. [Revaluation of the Reliability and Validity on the Family Needs Survey]. Ankara Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Fakültesi Özel Eğitim Dergisi, 15(2), 1–12.
11. Çelebi, Z. İ. (2019). Reflections of informing parents of children with special needs during the diagnostic and guidance process on transition into special educational services [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Dokuz Eylül University. Cercone, K. (2008). Characteristics of adult learners with implications for online learning design. AACE Journal, 16(2), 137–159.
12. Chang, G.-C., & Yano, S. (2020). How are countries addressing the Covid-19 challenges in education? A snapshot of policy measures. In World Education Blog. https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/how-are-countries-addressing-the-covid-19-challenges-in-education-a-snapshot-of-policy-measures/
13. Coates, J. (2007). Talk in a play frame: More on laughter and intimacy. Journal of Pragmatics, 39, 29–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2006.05.003
14. Courtenay, K. (2020). Covid-19: Challenges for people with intellectual disability. The BMJ, 369. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1609
15. Courtenay, K., & Perera, B. (2020). COVID-19 and people with intellectual disability: Impacts of a pandemic. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1017/ipm.2020.45
16. Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. In Research design. Sage publications. https://doi.org/10.2307/3152153
17. Daniel, S. J. (2020). Education and the COVID-19 pandemic. Prospects, 1–6.
18. Drew P., & Heritage J. (1992). Analysing talk at work: An introduction. In P. Drew, & J. Heritage (Eds.), Talk at work (pp. 3–65). Cambridge University Press.
19. Eldeniz Çetin, M., & Sönmez, M. (2018). Identification of the problems experienced by mothers with children with multiple disabilities. Elementary Education Online, 17(3), 1252–1267. https://doi.org/10.17051/ilkonline.2018.466339
20. Esentürk, O. K. (2020). Parents’ perceptions on physical activity for their children with autism spectrum disorders during the novel Coronavirus outbreak. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/20473869.2020.1769333
21. Fisher, J., Languilaire, J.-C., Lawthom, R., Nieuwenhuis, R., Petts, R. J., Runswick-Cole, K., & Yerkes, M. A. (2020). Community, work, and family in times of COVID-19. Community, Work & Family, 23(3), 247–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2020.1756568
22. Ghosh, S., & Parish, S. (2013). Prevalence and economic well-being of families raising multiple children with disabilities. Children and Youth Services Review, 35(9), 1431–1439. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.05.018
23. Hanson, M., & Espinosa, L. (2016). Culture, ethnicity, and linguistic diversity: Implications for early childhood special education. In Handbook of early childhood special education (pp. 455–471). Springer.
24. Hart, J. L., Turnbull, A. E., Oppenheim, I. M., & Courtright, K. R. (2020). Family-centered care during the COVID-19 era. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 60(2), 93–97. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.04.017
25. Hawryluck, L., Gold, W. L., Robinson, S., Pogorski, S., Galea, S., & Styra, R. (2004). SARS control and psychological effects of quarantine, Toronto, Canada. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 10(7), 1206–1212. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1007.030703
26. Kaiser, A. P., & Hancock, T. B. (2003). Teaching parents new skills to support their young children’s development. Infants and Young Children, 16(1), 9–21. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001163-200301000-00003
27. Kumar, S., & Casey, A. (2020). Work and intimate partner violence: powerful role of work in the empowerment process for middle-class women in abusive relationships. Community, Work and Family, 23(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2017.1365693
28. Li, S., Wang, Y., Xue, J., Zhao, N., & Zhu, T. (2020). The impact of covid-19 epidemic declaration on psychological consequences: A study on active weibo users. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(6:2032), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062032
29. Luijkx, J., van der Putten, A. A. J., & Vlaskamp, C. (2019). A valuable burden? The impact of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities on family life. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 44(2), 184–189. https://doi.org/10.3109/13668250.2017.1326588
30. Majnemer, A., Shikako-Thomas, K., Shevell, M. I., Poulin, C., Lach, L., Schmitz, N., & Law, M. (2013). Pursuit of complementary and alternative medicine treatments in adolescents with cerebral palsy. Journal of Child Neurology, 28(11), 1443–1447. https://doi.org/10.1177/0883073813488942
31. Mednick, M. (2007). Supporting children with multiple disabilities. Continum International Publishing Group.
32. Merriam, S.B., & Caffarella, R.S. (1999). Learning in adulthood (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
33. Mesa Vieira, C., Franco, O. H., Gómez Restrepo, C., & Abel, T. (2020). COVID-19: The forgotten priorities of the pandemic. Maturitas, 136, 38–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2020.04.004
34. Nakken, H., & Vlaskamp, C. (2007). A Need for a taxonomy for profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 4(2), 83–87. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-1130.2007.00104.x
35. Narzisi, A. (2020). Handle the autism spectrum condition during coronavirus (Covid-19) stay at home period: Ten tips for helping parents and caregivers of young children. Brain Sciences, 10(4:207), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10040207
36. Reimers, F.M. & Schleicher, A. (2020). A framework to guide an education response to the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020. OECD 2020. https://globaled.gse.harvard.edu/files/geii/files/framework_guide_v1_002.pdf
37. Pfefferbaum, B., & North, C. S. (2020). Mental health and the Covid-19 pandemic. New England Journal of Medicine, 383(6), 510–512. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp2008017.
38. Qi, F., & Hu, L. (2020). Including people with disability in the COVID-19 outbreak emergency preparedness and response in China. Disability and Society, 35(5), 848–853. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1752622
39. Sardohan Yildirim, A. E. (2017). Examining the process of strengthening families of children with multiple disability via family centered education model [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Ankara University.
40. Sood, S. (2020). Psychological effects of the Coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic. Research & Humanities in Medical Education, 7, 23–26. https://www.rhime.in/ojs/index.php/rhime/article/view/264
41. Turk, M. A., & McDermott, S. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic and people with disability. Disability and Health Journal, 13(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2020.100944
42. van Timmeren, E. A., van der Putten, A. A. J., van Schrojenstein Lantman-de Valk, H. M. J., van der Schans, C. P., & Waninge, A. (2016). Prevalence of reported physical health problems in people with severe or profound intellectual and motor disabilities: a cross-sectional study of medical records and care plans. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 60(11), 1109–1118. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12298
43. Wang, P., & Michaels, C. A. (2009). Chinese families of children with severe disabilities: Family needs and available support. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 34(2), 21–32.
44. World Health Organisation (WHO). (2020). No Title. https://www.who.int/emergencies/ diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen
45. Yates, A. (2012). Supporting parents of young children with severe disabilities: An action research study. Fielding Graduate University.
46. Yıldırım, Ş., Karahan, S., Demiröz, K., Şener Ö. ve Özaydın, L. (2020). Kovid-19 sürecinde özel gereksinimli çocukların ebeveynlerinin ihtiyaçları [The needs of the parents of children with special disabilities during the Covid-19 outbreak process]. The Proceeding of International Conference on Covid-19 Studies (pp. 369–370).
47. Yin. R. K. (2014). Case Study Research Design and Methods (5th ed.). Sage.
48. Zhang, J., Shuai, L., Yu, H., Wang, Z., Qiu, M., Lu, L., Cao, X., Xia, W., Wang, Y., & Chen, R. (2020). Acute stress, behavioural symptoms and mood states among school-age children with attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder during the COVID-19 outbreak. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 51(102077), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102077
49. Zhou, X., Snoswell, C. L., Harding, L. E., Bambling, M., Edirippulige, S., Bai, X., & Smith, A. C. (2020). The role of telehealth in reducing the mental health burden from COVID-19. Telemedicine and E-Health, 26(4), 377–379. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2020.0068