Perception of Mothers among Cerebral Palsy Children with Disabilities in Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to check the perception of mothers of cerebral palsy children with disabilities in Tamil Nadu. Data, from India, on perceptions about Cerebral palsy disability are scant. This study explored mother’s knowledge, social well-being and awareness of treatment rendered. During the development of the questionnaire, review of the literature has been primarily made; during developing the questionnaire personal and social values were considered. The questionnaire was emerged with 9 themes, Knowledge of disability condition, Parental stress, Community support, Child ability, Mothers Confidence, Improvement, Health status, Benefits & Belief. Data were collected from mothers of both male and female children with cerebral palsy aged between 1 to 18 years. 220 mothers, averaged 33.44 + 6.14 years, of children with CP were randomly selected for this study. Data was collected from mothers attending rehabilitation centers from different institution and special schools in Tamil Nadu. Mothers can hold both a fatalistic view of disability and a belief in the course of disability. The raw data was tabulated and analyzed by using SPSS 17 version software. Cronbach’s Alpha was calculated, the results showed that its Cronbach’s Alpha was extremely good (r=0.96). Our results suggest that there is significance difference with in the mother’s perception towards types of disability in Parental stress, child’s ability, mother’s confidence, improvement, health status, benefits and belief. Mothers should be motivated to maximize rehabilitation services in order to improve their children’s functional capacity. The appreciation of this phenomenon could move towards a model for the delivery of rehabilitation that integrates and harmonizes such beliefs.