Experiences of Parents of Students with Learning Disabilities in Elementary Schools in Lordegan, Iran, in 2020

Abstract

Background and Objective: Children's learning has always been regarded as an important issue that determines the educational destiny of children in the future and can confuse teachers and parents. Therefore, this study aimed to explain the experiences of parents of students with learning disabilities in elementary schools in Lordegan, Iran, in 2020. Materials and Methods: This qualitative study was conducted using a phenomenological approach. The study sample included mothers of children with learning disabilities in Lordegan who were selected using the convenience sampling method. The unstructured and in-depth interviews were conducted on 12 mothers until the information saturation stage was reached. The data were analyzed using Colaizzi's method and identification of the main and sub-concepts. Results: The number of participants in the study was 12 (three men and nine females) and they were in the age range of 27-83 years. One of the participants was a widow and the rest were married. The initial code 1027 was obtained after Interviews in the form of 10 main concepts of parental loneliness with five sub-concepts, parental mental imbalance and aggression with six sub-concepts, feelings of failure and depression with six sub-concepts, parental involvement and follow-up with nine sub-concepts, parental effort and learning disability with 17 sub-concepts, financial problems and lack of cooperation of respective institutions with nine sub-concepts, community support with seven sub-concepts, physical and mental problems of the child with eight sub-concepts, concern for the future of the child with eight sub-concepts, and teacher influence with two sub-concepts. Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, parents of children with learning disabilities feel lonely, their mental balance is disturbed, and they become aggressive and feel broken and depressed. In this regard, parents' participation and persistence, parents' efforts, the economic problems, and the lack of cooperation of the responsible institutions are quite obvious. Therefore, the parents of children with disabilities need various supports from the society and the educational system, and the necessity of all around support for these families is an inevitable reality that should not be ignored.