特殊幼兒父母不畏迢迢千里路：對子女之期待、親職壓力與教養及所需支持

Expectations, Parenting Stress, Parenting Styles and Support for Parents of Young Children with Special Needs

本研究採質性研究法，運用訪談瞭解特殊幼兒父母對子女之期待、親職壓力與教養，以及所需支持。研究對象包含五位安置在特教班幼兒之父母與五位安置在普通班特殊幼兒之父母。研究者由父母對子女圖像之期待，從傳統至現代的延續與轉變中探討特殊幼兒父母對於子女發展遲緩之親職壓力，陪同子女進行早期療育，協助子女的學習與發展所需的支持，以及他們對子女之教養態度與方式。研究結果顯示：一、特殊幼兒父母皆期待子女能符合一般幼兒的發展里程碑，平安健康長大，但會因應子女的健康情況、障礙程度與年齡增長等因素而改變對子女之期待。二、特殊幼兒父母很關切子女的健康情況，親職壓力和子女的障礙程度密切相關，家人與正式支持系統可減緩親職壓力。三、特殊幼兒父母努力帶子女參與早期療育，背後反映了不同的教養態度與方式，有些父母關注子女的發展遲緩領域，希望讓子女的發展與學習能迎頭趕上一般幼兒，而有些父母則是較期望提升子女其他領域之能力，如生活自理的技能，但也會因應子女的特質而有不同的教養方式。最後，研究者提出對特殊幼兒父母之相關建議，並進行省思。

This study aimed to investigate expectations, parenting styles, stress and support for parents of children with special needs. Qualitative research was conducted through interviews, conducted with five parents of children placed in special education classes and five parents of children with special needs who were placed in regular classes. The researcher explored parents’ expectations for their children’s images, and with regard to both continuity and transformation from tradition to modernity, to explore parenting, stress and support for parents of special needs children with developmental delays or disabilities. These parents accompanied their children in early intervention, and strived to help support their children’s learning and development through their parenting attitudes and styles. Research results revealed the following: 1. Parents of children with special needs expect their children to meet the same development milestones as typically developing children and grow up healthily. However, their expectations for their children will change based on factors such as their children’s health conditions, severity of disabilities, and age; 2. Parents of children with special needs are very concerned about their children’s health. Parenting stress is closely related to the degree of their children’s disabilities. Family and formal support can alleviate parenting stress; and 3. Parents of children with special needs expect to work hard to bring their children to participate in early intervention, which reflects different parenting beliefs. Some parents are concerned about their children’s developmental delays, with the goal of narrowing developmental gaps between their children and typically developing peers. Some parents are more interested in improving their children’s development and learning. Children’s abilities in other areas, such as skills in the area of self-care, will also engender different parenting styles and attitudes, depending on the characteristics of the children. Finally, the researcher puts forward relevant suggestions and reflections for parents of children with special needs.