NEU-RESEARCH PROPOSAL 2013 NAME OF FACULTY: Prof. Jesse Joey S. Alvarado Prof. Emma Morta Prof. Gemma P.

Lana Prof. Sharon M. De Vera

I.

DEPARTMENT: NURSING

RESEARCH TITLE: The Lived Experiences of Working Parents Having a Special Child

II.

PROPONENT & DESIGNATION:

1. Prof. Jesse Joey S. Alvarado (Research Coordinator) 2. Prof. Emma Morta (Adviser) 3. Prof. Gemma P. Lana (Adviser) 4. Prof. Sharon M. De Vera (Adviser) 5. Mr. Eriberto D. Paciente Jr. (Group Leader) III.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY The birth of a baby is usually an exciting event for parents and all of them expect a healthy one (Pillitteri, 2007). However, there are some cases that babies are born with special needs. "Special needs" are commonly defined by

what a child can't do -- by milestones unmet, foods banned, activities avoided, experiences denied. For all parents, they will undergo a period of adjustments since they were expecting for a healthy baby. They have to deal with the fact that they have special child. Some parents may always sorrow their childs loss of potential to do things. Others may find that their childs conditions make triumphs sweeter and that weaknesses are accompanied by incredible strengths. It is important for parents to be optimistic and hopeful to easily adjust to their situations. The birth of a child with special needs may affect the family most specially the parents. It may affect the parents social life. They may feel like being rejected by their relatives and friends. They may also refrain from talking to other people because they are afraid to be criticized or asked about their child. Parents may be afraid when their child suffers a setback in treatment, given a new diagnosis or act differently. Gaining knowledge lessens fear and increases the parents confidence to move forward. These situations may also represent financially draining problems and long-term responsibilities for parents. It would also be more difficult for them to take care of a special child since they were different from other children, they have special needs. Special needs are needed to be attended. In order to do this, parents need enough income. It would be more difficult on their part if they lack socio-economic income. The economic problems may increase due to hospital and medical cost to be spent for their child. Many parents tend to find a job to support their childs needs. As many as 60% of women of childbearing

age work at a full-time job outside the home today and as many as 90% work at least part-time (Benokraitus, 2005). However, working may affect their relationships with their children. They may spend lesser time with them because they tend to spend most of their time working. The outcome is that parents are trying to find someone who will take care of their children. The researchers have chosen this topic after their exposure to a Special Education program. In their exposure, they have observed that most of the children were accompanied and being watched by their own coach or shadow. Shadow teachers are getting paid for taking care of the children. Only few of these special children were being accompanied by their parents in school. Other parents just drop their children at school and then leave for work. This research topic was selected for the reason that only few researchers here in our country conducted researches about special children and the lived experience of their parents whether simple or with combined support from their biological father and mother. Based on the experiences of the group during their exposure to Special Education program curiosity arose in understanding deeper on the hidden insights, feelings and experiences of working parents in taking care of their children. The focus of the study is to recognize the insights, feelings and experiences of working parents who are taking care of their special children. With regards to this, the group wishes a) to assess the working parents feelings having a special child, b) to explore their insights in taking care of the special child, and c) to describe their lived experiences.

IV.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In line with the discovering and describing the insights, feelings and experiences of working parents with their special child, the following problems are hereby stated:
V.

What are the feelings of working parents with special child? What are the insights of working parents with special child? What are the experiences of working parents with special child?

ASSUMPTIONS

Assumptions are conditions taken for granted without which the research effort would be impossible (Neutens & Rubinson, 2002). In designing and executing this study the assumptions are:

Taking care of special children is a personal issue for working parents. The participants will be able to express themselves honestly about their insights, feelings and experiences in taking care of special children.

VI.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study entitled The Lived Experiences of Working Parents having a Special Child is significant to the following:
Nursing Practice

This study will guide nurses to give appropriate intervention in dealing with special children including their parents without hurting their feelings. It can contribute in developing the therapeutic communication skills of nurses in addressing issues concerning individual parent. This can also help nurses in developing effective counseling skills while attending to clients concerns. This will also provide comprehensive information on how parents having a special

child react and adapt to the current situation they are facing with in order to address them holistically.
Nursing Education

This will provide an additional knowledge to the nursing academe since lived experiences of parents having a special child are not commonly discussed as part of nursing program. This can also serve as a reference that will be beneficial in preparing future professional nurses in dealing effectively with the parents having special child based on the valuable insights, experiences and feelings we can obtain from the subjects of this phenomenological research study.
Nursing Administration

The study results will serve as essential guidelines in promoting an enhanced nursing approach through a more holistic perception and

understanding of parents having special child based on the experiences provided by the research subjects. It will also broaden and sharpen their familiarity regarding the insights and feelings of parents as well as in disseminating information to the nursing profession for them to come up with different strategies that surely address the said topic.
Nursing Research

This research could serve as their baseline data for further studies related to lived experiences of parents having special child either in hospital or community setting. The result of this study is hoped to provide essential

information for those who aspire in conducting other qualitative research studies in the future.
Public/Community

This will help in disseminating awareness and understanding about lived experiences of parents to the general public in order to improve personality in handling emotions and enhancing moral values among themselves and in their community. It will also provide advocacy effort in attending to the special needs of parents having special child.
VII.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION This study is focused on the insights, feelings and experiences of working parents with special children, the selected respondents should be working parents whose special children were studying under New Era University Special Education program. The respondents are informed that they are subjects for the research study to be conducted and informed consent will be further explained prior to interview. Minimum of 10 participants were needed in this study. The researchers were able to locate parents who are willing to share their insights, feelings and experiences in taking care special children. The study initially started in the 2nd semester of School Year 2012-2013 and expected to be finished by the end of the 1st semester School Year 2013-2014. The researchers will be having 2-3 sessions equaling to 3-5 hours for each participant.

Nevertheless, the result of the study doesnt mean to generalize parents own perspective and adjustment, as researchers believed that every person has their own way and strategy of coping with this kind of experiences in life.

VIII.

DEFINITION OF TERMS Anxiety -Defined as extreme agitation, filled with tension and dread. Autism - A brain development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, communication and by restricted and repetitive behavior. Biological Parent A parent who has conceived (biological mother) or sired (biological father) rather than adopted a child and whose genes are therefore transmitted to the child. Communication skills - The set of skills that enables a person to convey information so that it is received and understood. Communication skills refer to the repertoire of behaviors that serve to convey information for the individual. Disability- Physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Feelings - The undifferentiated background of one's awareness considered apart from any identifiable sensation, perception, or thought. Holistic All-encompassing view based on the knowledge of the

nature, functions, and properties of the components, their interactions, and their relationship to the whole.

Inclusion- Term used to describe services that place students with disabilities in general education classrooms with appropriate support services. Student may

receive instruction from both a general education teacher and a special education teacher. Insights - The capacity to discern the true nature of a situation; penetration. The act or outcome of grasping the inward or hidden nature of things or of perceiving in an intuitive manner. Lived Experience - used to describe the first-hand accounts and impressions of living as a member of a group. It also refers to the people who are living through the phenomenon. Mainstreaming- Term used to describe the integration of children with special needs into regular classrooms for part of the school day. The remainder of the day is in a special education classroom Mental Retardation (now referred to as Intellectually Disabled)- This term has recently been changed. This disorder is characterized by below average cognitive functioning in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before age 18. Special Child - Children who have been determined to require special attention and specific necessities that other children do not. Special Education - Specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. Special education is in place to provide additional services, support, programs, specialized placements or environments to ensure that all students' educational needs are provided for.

Special Needs - The individual requirements (as for education) of a person with a disadvantaged background or a mental, emotional, or physical disability or a high risk of developing one

Shadow Teacher - An educational assistant who works directly with a single special needs child during his preschool and elementary school years. These assistants understand a variety of learning disabilities and how to handle them accordingly. Working Parents - a woman/man/parent who has a job and takes care of his or her children.

IX.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design The researchers will be using a descriptive phenomenological design, which will enable the researchers to describe the insight, feelings and experiences of working parents having a special child. The researchers will analyze the responses of the parents to the open-ended questions. The researchers will also use descriptive method to further assess and understand ideas and concepts of parents with special children through semi-structured interviews. The researchers can honestly said that there is no manipulation of variables.

Population and Sample The researchers will include ten (10) parents of special children as the target population of the study. The accessible population is comprised of sets of working parents whose children are under special education program. The parents will be

chosen foremostly, due to their cooperation and availability for series of interviews. Secondly, the school where their children are enrolled offers Special Education Program that met required criteria for sample of the study.

Sampling Technique This research study will utilize non-probability sampling method particularly purposive or judgement. In this kind of technique the participants are handpicked to be included in the sampling frame based on certain qualities for the purpose of the study.

Inclusion/Eligibility Criteria and Site Sampling The participants that were chosen based from the following criteria set for the study:
1) The respondents must be a working parent, male or female, regardless of their

age.
2) The respondents have a special child sent under special education program.

The participation of the participants in the study will be voluntary and participants may end their participation in the study at any time without risk or harm

Research Locale The research study will be conducted at New Era University, Elementary-SPED department. The school is a non-sectarian school which is located at no. 9 Central Avenue, Diliman Quezon City. The research group chose this school as it is one of the few schools in the Philippines that offers special education program.

Research Instrument The primary instrument that will be used in this research study is an in-depth semi structured interview guided by open-ended questions formatted by the researchers which are suitable for the study. Questions are made to help the researchers to gather information with an organize system and to be guided for the further interview to the respondents. Questions on the interview are basically come from the problems of the study and other information needed by the researchers to finish and complete the study. The researchers also include the use of tape recorder for the purpose of transcribing the statement of respondents. Participant observation was also used in order to asses for the non-verbal cues. The interview will be one on one (face to face basis) so that the answers will be accurate and reliable. In that case, all of the information will be gathered with a confidential premise to the respondents. There will also be consent for the permission of the interview to inform the respondents about the topic or about the study.

Data Process Researchers thorough analysis of the gathered data from different sources is one of the different approaches that will be used to enhance the credibility of the study. Data gathering will be done mostly through observation, conversation and interview but interviews are to be the most important source of the information that will be analysed looking for similarities and forming themes.

Data Collection Procedures Data gathering is precise, systematic gathering of information relevant to the research sub-problems, using methods such as interviews, participant observation, focus group discussion, narrative and case histories. (Burns & Groove, 2003) First, the researchers will gather related literature needed to the research to be done to have extensive knowledge and for the researchers to be guided about the questions to be further questions to be asked. Before the actual interview to the participants, the researchers will make sure that there are no mind biases and be more open minded during the interview. This will be done through bracketing. Bracketing was done to identify and hold in abeyance any preconceived beliefs and opinions about the phenomena under study (Polit and Beck, 2008) It refers to the process of holding assumptions and presuppositions in suspension to improve the rigor of the research. (Holloway, 2003) The bracketing process is crucial throughout the research process =, especially during data analysis. It requires the researcher to remain neutral with respect to belief or disbelief in the existence of the phenomenon. (Streubert, Speziale, Carpenter, 2003) The researchers thus had first to identify the preconceived ideas about the experiences of the working parents with special children. Then the researchers had to suspend any knowledge that may hinder the research interview or the whole research. This will allow the trustworthiness of the results.

Then, with the approval of the adviser, the researchers will conduct the research, The researchers will start gathering information interviewing the parents about their viewpoints on their experiences as working parents that have special children. The researchers will explore to their insights and experiences being a working parent to a special child. Through the help of the Special Education Department Director, the researchers had the chance to collect the contact information of the participants and inquired about their availability. In the study, the researchers will use Strueberts procedural steps. The researcher followed the following steps with each interview. 1. Made an appointment with each participant at a time which they chose or suited them well. 2. Created a quiet room conducive to conversation. 3. Arranged chairs to enhance face-to-face interviewing 4. Prepared tape recorder. Before the researcher conducted the interview, she/he: 1. Thanked the participant for the time and willingness to be part of the study. 2. Reminded the participant the agreement 3. Explained that the interview was to be instructed and that probing questions would be determined by the information given by the participant.

4. Asked permission to record the interview. Prior to conducting the interview proper, the respondents would be ask to read and sign the consent accordingly. The participants have right to participate in the research, and the freedom to decline at any time. The participants will also receive instructions on the nature and purpose of the research under study through the consent agreement form. The participants also will receive an assurance of confidentiality to make them more comfortable in the sharing and explaining their personal views. Once the data is collected, the next step will be to categorize the information. The objective will be to identify any patterns representing concepts the participants represented during the data collection phase. Data will then be organized into logical categories that summarizes and bring meaning to the manuscript of notes. Data Analysis Data analysis process is a way to discover patterns, coherent themes, meaningful categories and new ideas and in general uncovers better understanding of a phenomenon or process (Suter, 2006) In analyzing the transcribed interview of the working parents having special child, the researchers will going to use Colaizzis Method. Colaizzis (1987) method employs component of Husserlain phenomenology, placing an emphasis on the description of the lived experience as opposed to an explanation (Beck & Watson, 2008). Each transcribed interview of the nurses Colaizzis (1987) method of data analysis consists of seven steps:

1. Read and re read all the participants verbatim transcripts of the phenomena

in order to acquire a feeling for them.

2. Significant statements or phrases are extracted from the participants

transcripts pertaining directly to the research phenomena.

3. Formulated meanings re constructed from the significant statements. 4. Formulated meanings are arranged into clusters themes which involve into

emergent themes.
5. Incorporation of the results into a rich and exhaustive description of the lived

experience.
6. Validation of the exhaustive descrption from the participants involved in the

research.
7. Incorporation of any new or pertinent data obtained from the participants

validation and adapted to attain congruence with the lived experience of the participants studied.

Reliability and Validity The researchers will check the data after data collection to make sure the data was valid and reliable and that they are based on the real conditions of the phenomena. The validity of the data will be assured by transcribing the recorded tape of the interview verbatim or word by word. Listening to the tape a number of times, particularly the vague and unclear parts will maintain the accuracy of the transcription process. The reliability of the data will be checked using the investigator triangulation. Using this type of triangulation, the researchers will be divided into pairs of interviewers. The findings of each pair of interviewers were then collated to form categories and themes. Also the

researchers will interview the NEU-SPED Director to enhance the reliability of the data that will be gathered. To also improve reliability for the study the researchers will also provide by the act of returning to participants to re-check if the information that they gave were accurately reflected by the study.

Ethical Consideration One of the goals of this research study is to facilitate learning through a better understanding of research and how it influences practice. However, in undertaking our research, we wish o seek information from individuals that also sought from confidentiality and their own rights in accordance to the research. The researchers ensure that no harm will occur to these voluntary participants and that all participants have made to the decision to assist us with full information as what is required and what, if any, potential negative consequences may arise from such participation. As the researchers, it is important to include the moral obligations that will strictly consider the rights of the participants who were expected to provide this knowledge. The researchers consider this very important for it will be the key to establish trust between participants and researchers to respect them as autonomous beings, thus enabling them to their own decisions (Burns and Grove 2003; Streubert Speziale and Carpenter, 2003)

Participant Information Participation should be voluntary in all research, and there should be no coercion or deception. The researchers will not force respondents to participate and they will be informed with a clear understanding that they are under no obligation to do so and that

there will be no negative consequences for them if they do not assist the researchers in this research study. On the recruitment process the researchers will give the participants, informed consent that will explain the purpose of the study and the detailed information about of the benefits, risks and procedures involved. Our research included participant information for it is related to the parents relationship and their perception to their child as the affected person.

Confidentiality and Anonymity Anonymity requires that we do not know who the participants are. Confidentiality means that we know who the participants are, but that their identity will not be revealed in any way in the resulting report. (Skinner and Smith, 1990). Confidentiality and anonymity are guaranteed by ensuring that data obtained are used in such a way that no one other than the researcher knows the source (LoBiondo-Wood & Harber 2002).

The Right to Withdraw From the Study The respondents were informed before we asked for their permission to participate, that they have the right to withdraw to our study anytime if they persisted to. This right was explained to the participants prior to engagement in the study. According to Schaefer and Wertheimer (2003), this should protect research participants from information imbalance, inability to hedge, inherent uncertainty, and untoward bodily invasion, and it serves to bolster public trust in the research enterprise.