Hearing impairment can cause significant adverse effects on the acquisition of speech and language, academic achievment as well as social and emotional development. Aim of the study: The aim of the study is to assess mothers’ knowledge and attitudes towards their children sufferring from hearing impairment. Design: A descriptive research design was used to conduct the study. Setting: This study was carried out in Al-Amal School at Benha city. Sample: A convenient sample of 110 mothers accompanying their children having hearing impairment were interviewed individually. Tools of data collection: Two tools were used: tool (1) interviewing questionnaire that was constructed by the researcher including two parts and tool (2) attitudes to deafness scale. It was adopted from Cooper et al., (2004). Results: The results showed that, nearly half of the studied mothers have poor knowledge, while 7.3% of them have good knowledge regarding hearing impairment and almost two thirds of them have indifferent attitudes, while 14.5% of them have negative attitudes towards their children suffering from hearing impairment. Conclusion: The study concluded that, the studied mothers have poor knowledge and indifferent attitudes towards their children suffering from hearing impairment. Recommendations: The study recommended improving mothers’ knowledge and attitudes towards hearing impairment through periodical educational programs and similar intervention.
___________________________________________________
|
