Document Type : Original Articles

Authors

• Seyyed Mohsen Asghari Nekah ¹
• Mina Bagherinezhad ²

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Education and Psychology of Exceptional Children, Faculty of educational and sciences psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

² MSc, Department of clinical psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Autism is a neurological disorder with increasing prevalence which affects various dimensions of the children and their families that often require multi-dimensional, lifelong rehabilitation and therapy services; therefore, this study aims to investigate the needs of autistic children's mothers. Materials and Methods: This research is a Need Assessment. Research sample included 41 parents of autistic children who were selected through available sampling from three autistic clinics in Mashhad. Participants completed the author’s produced questionnaire and filled nine rehabilitation and educational categories. The reliability of the questionnaire (nine categories) was assessed through the application of the Cronbach's alpha coefficient and equaled a=0. 94.Results: The result of one sample T test indicated that the parents agreed on the utilization of all rehabilitation and educational categories. They placed more emphasis on the following four categories:  child's self-care, child's play skills, parents playing with child, child's cognitive and mind problems and child's communicative skill. Furthermore, the results of MANCOVA demonstrated that child's age, the number of birth, mother's age and parents' education have no influence on the needs’ prioritization.Conclusion: Applying the results of the current need assessment can help professionals and therapists to offer psychological and rehabilitation services to the patients and provide them with an appropriate prioritization of their needs.Keywords: Autistic children, rehabilitation and educational needs, need assessment