First Advisor

Luckner, John L.

Document Type

Dissertation

Date Created

8-2017

Abstract

This dissertation was conducted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to investigate the needs and perceptions of parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) in regard to the support and services provided in Saudi Arabia. Fiftyeight parents of children who are DHH were surveyed. Participants were asked to complete the survey considering the support and services provided to their children who are DHH in KSA. The survey questions were related to parent perception in five areas of services: early identification services, hearing technology services, communication services, educational services, and social support services. In the course of the investigation, five main research questions guided the study: Q1 What types of services are being received and would like to receive by Saudi parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? Q2 How satisfied are the Saudi parents of children who are DHH regarding the services received? Q3 What are the most needed services perceived by parents with children who are DHH in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? Q4 Is there any relationship between the child’s characteristics and parents’ level of satisfaction in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? Q5 Is there any relationship between the child’s characteristics and the importance of services to parents in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? The results indicated that all types of services are available and being received by some Saudi parents of children who are DHH in KSA. The results also demonstrated that parents showed an average level of satisfaction towards services and support regarding the services received for their children who are DHH. The majority of parents recognized all aspects of services listed as the most needed services for children who are DHH and their parents in KSA. The results also indicated that children’s gender and hearing status were not significantly related with parents’ satisfaction and the importance of services to parents in the KSA. Additionally, parents in the open-ended question section expressed some problems and offered some solutions in order to improve the services and support for children who are DHH. Conclusions of this dissertation study are that more research regarding the support and services provided for children who are DHH in KSA is needed in order to obtain a better understanding of parents’ needs and perceptions. Finally, the survey designed for this study needs further development because it does not include all aspects of services and support for parents and children who are DHH.

Keywords

Deaf -- Education -- Saudi Arabia; Deaf children -- Education -- Saudi Arabia; Deaf children -- Services for -- Saudi Arabia

Extent

173 pages

Local Identifiers

Alqahtani_unco_0161D_10609

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by the author.

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