THE EFFECf OF LEARNING DISABILITY ON THE PARENTS AND FAMILY

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CHAPTER THREE AID TO PARENTS OF LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN

INTRODUCTION

The object of this chapter is to deal with literature concerned on cognitive coping strategies. How to aid parents of learning disabled children regarding coping skills and family adaptations will be provided. Furthermore, the elements of two models will be discussed in detail.
According to Dowds, Hess and Nickels (1996:17) the family is an important influence on a child’s performance in school. Ideally, the home provides an environment that is actively supportive of the educational goals of the school and this functions as an educational resource. For the child with learning disabilities, the family is perhaps an even more important resource.
Parenting may be regarded as the most essential and possibly the most enduring profession acknowledged by society, yet it is the one in which parents are the least or at most ill-prepared. Parents are required to continuously adapt their parenting to enable their: children to respond adequately to the ever-changing demands of society. According to Smith (1991:515) parents influence their children’s attitudes, work habits, values, and learned skills through their own attitudes towards learning, through the amount of intellectual stimulation provided in the home, through the kind of modelling they provide, and through their wa.rmth, acceptance, and support.
Hence prepanng children to function in a complex world reqru.res knowledge, skill and dedication. The scope of parents’ responsibilities makes it clear that they cannot personally meet all their children’s needs. Aid would therefore be necessary. They must rely on those outside the family to assist them with their awesome task. Important allies in this regard are teachers according to Kapp and Levitz (1995:58).
According to Consilia (1978:19) increasing attention is being paid to these children in research centres and clinics, and the findings therefrom are reaching the schools by way of improved training programmes, cognitive learning programmes and inservice workshops on how to aid learning disabled children.
Processes of identifying such children are sometimes inaccurate and not always pertinent to the goals of diagnosis and treatment. Evaluations of the results of assessments are frequently too generalized, e.g. « child can’t spell, » or « child does not understand what he reads. » Such a finding is of little help in programming for remediation.
Programmes have been slow in emerging, partly because of training of experienced persons to ascertain what prevents a child from learning and the subsequent vocation to be used in his/her training (Consilia 1978:19).
What is interesting is a model presented by Kirk and Gallagher (1986:364) which can be used by mental health counsellors to identify children who have learning disabilities. In this model, there are two general categories of developmental and academic learning disabilities i.e.:-

DEVELOPMENTAL LEARNING DISABLITIES

PRIMARY DISABIUTIES

• attention
• memory
• perception
  SECONDARY DISABIUTIES
• thinking skills
• oral language skills

ACADEMIC LEARNING DISABILITIES READING

• basic skills
• comprehension skills
  .MAlliE.MATICS
• computational skills
• reasoning skills
  WRITIEN LANGUAGE
• handwriting skills
• spelling skills
• written expression skills (Kirk & Gallagher 1986:364).
  Using this mode~ effective remedial programmes could be devised to suit individual needs.
  or teachers, we need to be extremely aware of the hidden messages we give children, for hidden messages can be as clear to the child as are those which are stated clearly. We must therefore make certain that they know we believe in them and our actions must fit our words. Unthinkingly, we give hidden messages all the time e.g.: a father bragged about how he has saved on his income taxes by manipulating some figures. He was very upset when his son was caught cheating on his economics exams and wondered how he could have produced such a son (Kirk & Gallagher 1986:365).
  Sometimes parents feel despair at the problems their children face daily. A good treatment for despair is to get busy. Acting on the feeling that you are doing something about the problem, can be therapeutic. However, because of their children’s problems, most parents have had to fight long and hard for services. This makes it more difficult for many to have control over their children as they grow up. Some parents almost seem to fear a loss of control over their children and feel that if they are not right all the time, the child will immediately get into trouble. Sometimes, because of past behaviour and the students’ new freedom, such concern is justified, but at some point in their lives parents have to let them go.
  Parents and teachers of learning disabled children may demand too much or too little. As cognitive leaders there are steps we can follow Graham et al (1987:20). There is need to give guidance to mental health counsellors regarding their child’s learning disability.
  As mental health counsellors are asked to provide services to school-age children, especially those with learning disabilities, they need to become more knowledgeable about schools and the role they might play in them. Mental health counsellors should become familiar with local, state and federal regulations that monitor the provision of service to students with learning disabilities. By using the model for identifying learning disabilities, mental health counsellors can make important decisions about their clients’ developmental progress, especially at the elementary school level. Finally, as members of a professional team, they can help to promote positive working relationships among teachers and other school’s personnel as they work with parents on behalf of these children (Graham eta/ 1987 :20). This in tum will be beneficial for the parents in handling his learning disabled child.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTORY ORIENTATION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 INVESTIGATION OF TIIE PROBLEM
1.3 TIIE AIM OF THE STUDY
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF TIIE STUDY
1.5 EXPLANATION OF TERMS
1.6 DEMARCATION
1.7 PROGRAMME OF STUDY
1.8 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER TWO LEARNING DISABILITIES
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 TI-IE CONCEPT OF LEARNING DISABILITY
2.3 CAUSES OF LEARNING DISABILITIES
2.4 MANIFESTATIONS OF LEARNING DISABILIDES
2.5 CONTRIBUTION OF LEARNING DISABILI1Y TO THE STRESS OF PARENTS
2.6 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER THREE AID TO PARENTS OF LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 COPING SKILLS
3.3 NATURE OF COPING
3.4 LM:PLICATIONS OF COGNITIVE COPING
3.5 FAMILY ADAPTATIONS TO LEARNING DISABILITY
3.6 EXISTING PROGRAMMES AND INTERVENTIONS
3.7 HOW PARENTS COULD BE ASSISTED IN COPING WITH STRESS WI-lEN THEY HAVE A LEARNING DISABLED CHILD
3.8 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER FOUR DESIGN OF COGNITIVE COPING SKILL PROGRAMME
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 RET AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN THERAPY
4.3 AYURVEDICS AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN THERAPY
4.4 THE STRESSOR
4.5 THE EFFECf OF LEARNING DISABILITY ON THE PARENTS AND FAMILY
4.6 SPECIALIZED INSTRUCfiON
4.7 DEVELOPMENT OF A PROGRAMME WHICH FOCUS ON COGNITIVE COPING STRATEGIES OF PARENTS WITH LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN
4.8 PARENTAL AND FAMILY CHANGES
4.9 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER FIVE THE RESEARCH DESIGN
5.1 INTRODUCION
5.2 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
5.3 THE AIM OF EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION
5.4 THE RESEARCH POSTULATE
5.5 TIIE RESEARCH METHOD
5.6 THE RESEARCH TOOLS
5.7 SELECTION OF THE SAMPLE
5.8 APPLICATION OF THE PROGRAMME
5.9 PROCESSING OF THE DATA
5.10 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER SIX FINDINGS FROM THE EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 CASE STUDIES
6.3 COMPARISON OF PARENTS A-E
6.4 CHANGES IN PARENTS
6.5 RESPONSES AFTER TI1ERAPY
6.6 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER SEVEN CONCLUSION OF THE RESEARCH
7.1 IN1RODUC’riON
7.2 FINDINGS EMANATING FROM LITERATURE SURVEY
7.3 FINDINGS DERIVED FROM EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION
7.4 FINDINGS BASED ON THE RESULTS OF BDI (Post-test results)
7.5 SIGNIFICANT OTHERS INVOLVED IN THE PROGRAMME
7.6 DISCUSSION OF THE PROGRAMME
7.7 CONCLUSION OF INVESTIGATION
7.8 IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY
7.9 MATTERS REQUIRING FURTHER RESEARCH
7.10 CON1RIBUTIONS OF THIS STUDY
7.11 CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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COGNITIVE COPING STRATEGIES FOR PARENTS WITH LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN