PARENTAL STRESS IN RAISING CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS-A STUDY IN PRERONA JORHAT
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Date
2019-07
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AAU, Jorhat
Abstract
Parenting stress is an experience of every parent in the parenting process. It is experienced by almost all parents in raising their children, but it is more increased in parents having children with special needs (CWSN). The birth of a child with special needs often bring changes in the life of the parents for which they might not be prepared and will have bigger challenges to overcome in future. The child may require special care, medication, supports and services. Besides that, parents need to face social isolation, neglect, criticisms etc which elevates their level of stress. It is important for the parents to reduce their level of stress, by using some coping strategies and making necessary adjustments which will help them to live a healthier life. With this background the present study entitled, “Parental stress in raising children with special needs - A study in Prerona Jorhat” was undertaken during the calendar year 2017-2019 with the objectives as - to assess the level of stress in parents, factors causing stress and identify the coping strategies used by parents. A sample of 80 parents was selected purposively from Prerona, situated at Cinnamara, Jorhat. Since these target group is difficult to be accessed, so Prerona was selected which is the only special school fully functional in Jorhat, where parents of children with special needs could be found. A standardized tool named „Parental Stress Scale (PSS)‟ developed by Berry and Jones (1995) was used to assess the level of stress in parents. In addition to that an interview schedule was prepared, for collecting the background information, assessing the factors causing stress and identifying the coping strategies. The findings revealed that majority of the parents had an average level of stress in raising their children with special needs. Majority of the parents were stressed on various child related factors such as self-help ability, behavioural problem, educational problem and also thinking about the future of the child. The other self related factors of parents such as taking care of the child after the death of parents caused stress in them. It was also found that majority of the parents tried to cope with stress by using one or more coping strategy. They coped with stress by taking assistance from institutions working with special children such as Prerona and tried to take professional help and support as and when required. Many of them had faith in God, they have accepted the reality and learnt to live with their children and adjust themselves according to their children‟s need.