A Study on the Experience of Foster Parents who Care for Children with Special Needs

• Main Authors: Cho, Mei-Ting, 卓美婷
• Other Authors: Hu, Shin-Tzu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/80593353517749739331

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 特殊教育學系 === 104 === Qualitative research was adopted in this study, with "semi-structured interview" being used to interview two study participants for the purpose of exploring adoptive parents fostering children with special needs course experiences as well as their mentality. In the chapter of literature review, all topics are well arranged, in sequential order, to understand the bittersweet journey of foster parents fostering children with special needs. Findings and conclusions of this research are as follows: 1.The early stage of settlement ─ exploration: In the early stage of settlement, children with special needs, " the degree of family assistance" and " the burden degree of settlement object "are main factors increasing mental stress of foster parents; foster parents, to understand children with special needs from all aspects, believe that it is not only necessary to observe children’s behaviors on the surface, but also to observe children in all kind of situations and with different ways. 2.The mid-term foster care settlement stage ─Adjustment：In the aspect of the upbringing of children with special needs, parents can adjust attitudes towards children with special needs and alter their ways and pace of upbringing to suit individual cases of children. In terms of foster parents’ self-adjustment, factors affecting its adaptation can be summarized as follows: Internal attribution of psychological traits, positive views towards different circumstances, having reasonable expectations of children with special needs,having sufficient relevant expertise, and timely seeking supports from social systems. 3.The terminal foster care settlement stage ─separation：Foster parents’ feeling at separation could be affected by three factors, namely " the age of special children ", "title of adoptive parents" and "close links or special tune with special children." 4.Parenting children with special needs experience to foster parents positive significance, foster parents derive self-affirmation and growth. Finally, based on the research results, suggestion concerning" adoptive parents fostering children with special needs-related" topics are raised for consultation of relevance units and fostering workers.