Taiwanese families' perspectives on learning disabilities: an exploratory study in three middle schools

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate families' perspectives on learning disabilities (LD) in Taiwan. A researcher-designed survey was sent out to families of children with or without LD from three middle schools. Data from 153 participants were gathered and analysed. The survey consisted of four sections, namely demographic information, children's reading performance, families' general understanding and perspectives of LD. Specifically, the last section of 54 Likert scale items designed to gather information about families' perspectives of LD was analysed with five domains: causes of LD (inherent or acquired), conceptions and misconceptions, attitudes (acceptance or rejection), disclosure of disabilities (willing or unwilling), and support. Results indicated that families were not familiar with educational services related to LD in schools. Additionally, families' experiences with people with disabilities resulted in different perspectives regarding the causes and conceptions about LD, and acquiring support. Families' perspectives on LD also correlated with personal characteristics, including the level of their children's reading performance, number of children and income level. The cultural implications of these findings interplay with an emphasis on academic performance are discussed.

An investigation on alternative ideas on thermal phenomena of pupils with and without learning difficulties

“…Learning difficulties is a modern and quite topical issue in educational reality (Panteliadou and Botsa 2007 ). Students that fall into this category constitute a substantial proportion of the general school population (Chu and Lo 2016 ; Williams 1993 ). This target group faces general difficulties in school’s demands (Leung et al 2007 ) and comprise a heterogeneous group of children with impairments that vary from mild to severe.…”

Does the School Really Support My Child? SOFIA: An Assessment Tool for Families of Children with SEN in Spain

“…Many studies that analyze the parents' perceptions of their relationship with the school focus on analyzing the parent's perceptions regarding inclusive educational placements [49][50][51][52]. Similarly, most studies in this area have focused specifically on one disorder, usually Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, or Learning Disabilities [39,[53][54][55]. Simultaneously, much of the research in the field use qualitative techniques, mainly semi-structured interviews, and focus or discussion groups [56][57][58][59][60], making it difficult to collect, compare and generalize data [61].…”