Mothers of young children with disabilities: perceived benefits and worries about preschool

Abstract

A child's move from early intervention (EI) to special education preschool is considered to be a critical transition point for both the child and family. Family concerns during this process are heightened by changes in service delivery systems. Although much has been written about the transition from EI services, little is known about the parents' perceptions of the early preschool experience. Data from a sample of 105 mothers and their children from the Early Intervention Collaborative Study [Hauser-Cram, P., Warfield, M.E., Shonkoff, J.P., & Krauss, M.W. (2001). Children with disabilities: A longitudinal study of child development and parent well-being. Society for Research in Child Development Monographs, 66, 1–131] were used to analyse mothers' reports on a study-developed measure designed to capture their views of children's preschool experiences immediately following transition. Factor analysis indicated two distinct factors, ‘benefits of school’ and ‘worries about school.’ Each of these factors was then regressed on child, family, and preschool classroom characteristics to examine predictors of maternal perceptions about her child's new preschool experience. Implications for the receiving special education programmes and preschool teachers' practices are discussed.

Keywords:

• developmental disabilities
• early childhood special education
• transition to preschool
• maternal perceptions of preschool

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Corrigendum

Acknowledgements

The Early Intervention Collaborative Study is funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau Grant No. R40 MC 08956 (Title V, Social Security Act), Health Resources and Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services. We are grateful to the many children, parents, and teachers who have participated in this project.

Notes

This article was originally published with errors. This version has been amended. Please see Corrigendum (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2013.768097)

Preliminary tests indicated that a linear model was a better fit to the data than a quadratic model.