Parental beliefs on child development of children with developmental delays

Abstract

Parental beliefs on child education and development might intervene in how parents relate to their children and promote their development. The present research aimed to identify parental beliefs about the development of children with developmental delays. For this, we took a qualitative approach, based on content analysis, from the answers obtained in the Questionnaire of Parental Beliefs on Child Development. We obtained answers of 36 families (fathers and mothers) of 40 children with different developmental delays, attending the Municipal Child Education Centers of a capital of the South region of Brazil. We could identify beliefs regarding the development of children, which were mainly understood as aspects related to the delays the child presented (negative) and to their achievements (positive), which represented the way in which these parents direct their parental educational practices.