In transition: Experiences of parents of children with special needs at school entry

被引：39
作者：
Janus M. [1 ]
Kopechanski L. [1 ]
Cameron R. [1 ]
Hughes D. [1 ]
机构：
[1] Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, Chedoke Patterson Bldg., Hamilton, ON L8N 3Z5
来源：
Early Childhood Education Journal | 2008年 / 35卷 / 5期
关键词：
Children with special needs; Linkages; Quality of services; Transition to school;
D O I：
10.1007/s10643-007-0217-0
中图分类号：
学科分类号：
摘要：
Pre-school children with special needs face a complex transition to school, requiring additional administrative, social and educational support. In this study, parents of 40 children with special needs reported on the transition to school experience of their 4-6-year-old child. They completed a measure of impact of the child's disability on their family and an assessment of the quality of services experienced. Individual, semi-structured interviews contextualized these evaluations. Twenty children (pre-transition) were in preschool; 20 had already started school (post). Post-transition parents reported less average disability impact on family, generally lower perception of quality of care than pre-transition ones, and long waiting periods for school-based support. Most parents, however, reported satisfactory linkages between prior-to-school services and school. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that, despite the current climate of support for early child development, barriers for satisfactory transition to school still exist, and are largely due to low effectiveness of existing policies. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
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收藏
页码：479 / 485
页数：6
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