The effectiveness of a family counseling program in improving the meaning of life among deaf blind children

Abstract

The present study aims to examine the effectiveness of a family counseling program in improving the meaning of life for deaf-blind children. The sample of the study consisted of the families of 10 deafblind children in the age groups from 9 to 12 years. The study employed a measure of improving the meaning of life for deaf-blind children, and the results confirmed the existence of highly statistically significant differences between the measurements of the pre and post means on the scale of the meaning of life, for the experimental group. Deaf-blind children scored highest in all the three aspects; purpose of life, life satisfaction, adaptability, and; there fore, an indication of the effectiveness of the family counseling program in improving the meaning of life for deaf-blind children. The study also indicated that there are differences between the means of pre and post measurement for deaf blind children, males and females, on the meaning of life scale, in favor of female children, in terms of satisfaction with life alone. The study was concluded with recommendations for deaf-blind children. Key words: a family counseling program, the meaning of life, deaf blind children. Introduction:The group of deaf-blind people is one of the recently classified group as an independent group of handicapped, according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) report (World Health Organization [WHO], 2017). Also, the international classification of the functional performance, disability and health issued by the Nations International Children's Emergency Fund [UNICEF], indicated that deaf blind people are classified among the sensory disabilities group ( UNICEF, 2014).The NCDB stated that U.S.A has 9384 babies, children and youth who have been defined as having both hearing and visual disabilities, a much smaller number compared to the previous years. It also stated that almost 90% of the children and youth in the national census of deaf blind children have more than one disability, in addition to deafness and blindness (Wolford, 2016).The data of Helen Keller International Center suggested that there is about one million deaf blind adults in USA (Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths & Adults (HKNC), 2015).