The Relationship between Parents' Future Expectations and Self-Determination for Their Child with a Disability in Saudi Arabia
[Thesis]
Alrabiah, Abdalmajeed
Doren, Bonnie
The University of Wisconsin - Madison
2019
146 p.
Ph.D.
The University of Wisconsin - Madison
2019
Research indicated that individuals with disabilities still experience poor transition to postsecondary outcomes and limited control of their lives compared to their peers without disabilities. The literature consistently linked self-determination to achievement of positive postsecondary outcomes and quality of life. The ecological systems impact the experience of individuals with disabilities and opportunities to develop self-determination. Home and family play an important role in supporting children to develop self-determination. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between some of the contextual factors at home and a child's capacity for self-determination in Saudi Arabia. We surveyed parents of children with disabilities who receive special education services in public schools in Riyadh. The primary purpose was to examine how parents' future expectations of their child and the opportunities for self-determination influence the child's capacity for self-determination. We used regression analyses to examine the influence of the child's and parent demographics on parent perceptions of their child's capacity for self-determination, only the child's disabilities were significantly associated with the child's capacity for self-determination. Parents' future expectations and opportunities for self-determination were significantly associated with the child's capacity for self-determination, and the opportunities for self-determination partially mediated the relationship between the parents' future expectations and the child's capacity for self-determination. The child's gender and disabilities did not moderate the relationship between the parents' future expectations and the child's capacity for self-determination. The findings suggested that parents' future expectations and opportunities for self-determination were more important contextual variables for the child's capacity for self-determination than individual-level factors. Further research is needed to examine other contextual factors that may impact the development of self-determination.