Environmental Barriers to Participation of Preschool Children with and without Physical Disabilities

Lin-Ju Kang, Ming-Chieh Hsieh, Hua-Fang Liao and Ai-Wen Hwang
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Lin-Ju Kang: Graduate Institute of Early Intervention, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Road, Kwei-Shan, Tao-Yuan City 333, Taiwan
Ming-Chieh Hsieh: Graduate Institute of Early Intervention, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Road, Kwei-Shan, Tao-Yuan City 333, Taiwan
Hua-Fang Liao: School and Graduate Institute of Physical Therapy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, 17 Xuzhou Road, Taipei City 100, Taiwan
Ai-Wen Hwang: Graduate Institute of Early Intervention, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Road, Kwei-Shan, Tao-Yuan City 333, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-12

Abstract: Environment plays a vital role in affecting participation of young children in home, school, and community. Knowledge of environmental barriers helps to develop solutions or strategies that enable participation. The study compared the environmental barriers perceived by parents of preschool children with physical disabilities (PD, n = 142) and with typical development (TD, n = 192) in Taiwan. Parents identified environmental barriers by structured interview using the Chinese version of the Child and Adolescent Scale of Environment (CASE-C). The CASE-C is an 18-item measure of the impact of problems with physical, social, and attitudinal environmental features. Differences between the PD and TD groups in the summary scores for the CASE-C and the percentages of parents who perceived a problem for each item were examined by the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and Chi-square test. Parents of children with PD more often identified barriers related to family resources and community programs or services, social attitudes, assistance and supports outside of home, physical design of home and community, transportation, and assistive devices or equipment. Greater impacts of barriers were also reported by parents of preschool children with PD. Our findings provide evidence of environmental barriers that inform practice and policies to modify the barriers and provide an accessible and inclusive environment for families with young children.

Keywords: environment; home; school; community; barriers; physical disabilities; preschool children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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