The relationship between needs of mothers' of physically and intellectually impaired children and current early intervention services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Review of the literature on the currently available services for special needs children and early intervention programs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, supports the fact that early intervention services for young special needs children and their families are very limited. The present study aims at determining the importance of early intervention services for children with special needs and their families. The study also aims to firstly identify the need for establishing more early intervention programs across the country as well as to give suggestions for effective utilization of the presently available services. Secondly, the study focuses on determining the needs o mothers of children with intellectual and physical impairments. Thirdly, the study aims to assess the extent to which the available services are benefiting the special needs children and their families. A descriptive research study was conducted on a sample of 27 mothers of young children with intellectual and physical impairments. Three questionnaires were designed and distributed to obtain information about the following issues: 1) the current early intervention services available for young. special needs children in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries. 2) the background information of the families of the sample. 3) the needs of the mothers in the sample. The data was qualitatively analyzed and interpreted by comparing frequencies and their corresponding percentage values. Results of this study indicated that the majority of the mothers expressed severe and moderate need for more information about their child's impairment; and needed more services and intervention programs for their child. Results from the study also established a relationship between some of the socio-economic background variables and the different categories of needs. Finally, some of the needs of the mothers were met with the early intervention services provided by the centre where the study was conducted.