Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers of Nonhandicapped Children

Abstract

This study examines the attitudes of a group of parents of nonhandicapped children toward preschool mainstreaming, focusing on individual and demographic correlates of parent attitudes. Attitudes held by mothers and fathers were examined separately. Maternal attitudes were related to the positiveness (but not the overall amount) of their experiences with handicapped individuals, famiy income, education, age, and age of the nonhandicapped child. Only one significant correlation was found for fathers. Attitudes held by mothers and fathers were positively correlated. Preschoolers with severe mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or behavior problems elicited the most concern from parents relating to mainstreaming. Perceived benefits and drawbacks to mainstreaming are presented.Although preschool mainstreaming has received much attention in the literature, one relatively neglected area of research concerns the attitudes of parents of nonhandicapped young children toward mainstreaming. This was noted by Blacher and Turnbull in 1983 and still remains true. Understanding the attitudes and concerns of these parents is important as efforts are made to expand mainstreaming into a greater variety of community settings.Research focusing on parents of handicapped preschool children (Blacher & Turnbull, 1982; suggests that these parents generally hold positive attitudes toward mainstreaming. A study by Turnbull, Winton, Blacher, and Salkind (1983) examined the attitudes of parents of handicapped and nonhandicapped children involved in a mainstreamed public school kindergarten and found many similarities in the views of the two groups of families toward the benefits and drawbacks of mainstreaming. This study, however, did not include parents of nonhandicapped children not attending mainstreamed classes. This latter group is especially important to an understanding of the attitudes and concerns of preschool and day care parents that may facilitate or impede attempts to integrate these programs.

Perceptions of Parents of Young Children with and without Disabilities Attending Inclusive Preschool Programs

“…The Impact of Inclusion on Typically Developing Children Scale (IITDC) and the Impact of Inclusion on Children with Disabilities Scale (IICD) were developed "to assess the perceived benefits and risks of inclusion for children with disabilities and typically developing children" (Rafferty, Boettcher, & Griffin, 2001). The IITDC and IICD scales were based on items from the Parental Attitudes toward Mainstreaming Scale (Green & Stoneman, 1989) and the Benefits and Drawbacks of Mainstreaming Scale (Bailey & Winton, 1987). The Parents Attitudes toward Inclusion/Integration, 13-questions scale was created by Rafferty, Boettcher and Griffin (2001) and based on items from the Attitudes about Integration Opportunities for Children with Special Needs by Miller, Strain, Boyd, Hunsicker, McKinley and Wu (1992).…”

“…Parents sited an increased awareness and acceptance of children with disabilities, teacher-child ratios and extra services as positive components of the inclusive educational setting (Bailey & Winton, 1987;Guralnick, 1994). However, parents of children with and without disabilities may have concerns regarding the risks associated with their child attending an inclusive program including the integration of children with more severe disabilities (Green & Stoneman, 1989;Serry, Davis, & Johnson, 2000;Garrick & Salend, 2000;Peck, Staub, Gallucci, & Schwartz, 2004, Hewitt-Taylor, 2009). The perception of parents regarding inclusion and the impact it has on their child is vital to comprehending the overall benefits and drawbacks to the inclusion experience.…”

Actitudes de los estudiantes del Grado de Magisterio y del Máster de Educación Especial hacia la inclusión educativa

“…Entre los medios más utilizados en las investigaciones sobre actitudes encontramos tres grupos de instrumentos: a) Cuestionarios que miden el componente cognitivo de las actitudes: TASI: Teachers' Attitude Scale on Inclusion (Green y Stoneman, 1989); ATIS: Attitude toward Inclusive Education Scale (Wilczensky, 1992); ORI: Opinions Relative to Integration of Studens with Disabilities (Antonack y Larrive, 1995), versión actualizada y revisada de la escala ORM: Opinions Relative to Mainstreaming (Larrive y Cook, 1974); MAS: Mainstream Attitude Survey (Bender, Vail, y Scott, 1995); MTAI: My Thinking about Inclusion' Questionnaire (Stoiber, Gettinger, y Goetz, 1998); PES: Principals' Expectations Scales, cuestionario basado en Plannet Behaviour Theory; así como diferentes formatos de entrevista (Freire y César, 2003).…”

The home environments of children with disabilities: implications for peer relationships and self-determination

“…Green and Stoneman (1989) report that parents of preschool children without disabilities are more supportive of mainstreaming if they have had a child in an integrated setting, particularly if the mainstreaming experience was positive. Green and Stoneman (1989) also found younger mothers to be more supportive of mainstreaming than older mothers.…”

“…Green and Stoneman (1989) report that parents of preschool children without disabilities are more supportive of mainstreaming if they have had a child in an integrated setting, particularly if the mainstreaming experience was positive. Green and Stoneman (1989) also found younger mothers to be more supportive of mainstreaming than older mothers. They state, "this appears to be a cohort effect, with younger mothers more exposed to societal changes in services to handicapped children, and thus more likely to see benefits that might come to their children from participation in mainstreamed programs" (p. 302).…”