Comparison of the Attitude towards Disability in Parents with and without Mental Retarded Children, Yasouj 2007

Introduction & In recent years, the number of clients with mental disabilities continues to rise. Devastating impact of mental disability on families /caregiver mightaffect the attitude of the parents. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the attitude toward disability in parents with and without children having mental disability. 200 family care-givers, with and without mentally retarded children, participated in this casecontrol study. Data were collected using a researcherprepared questionnaire and by cluster sampling via a face to face interview of the parent and. The gathered data was analyzed with the SPSS software version 14. A difference was observed between the attitude of parents with and without mentally retarded children toward mental disability p=0.02). In addition, there was a difference between the two groups according to the educational level of the family care-giver(p=5.o4). This study also indicated that there were relationships between educational status and occupation of family care-givers with the attitude towardmental retardation (p<0/001). Considering that parents having a child with mental retardation had a better attitude towards handicapped children compared with mentally retarded children. Having ahealthy child may put positive effect on the parents’ attitudeby increasing contact with these persons and recognizingtheir ability; therefore, it is suggested to keep these childrenin normal schools and public communications try to notifythe abilities of these persons to the society by educating thepeople of the society.