| dc.description.abstract | This article will give an overview of a study into parental involvement at institutes for deaf children in the Netherlands. It will be studied whether parent involvement in 1970 differs from the present. In 1970 there were three institutes for the deaf (Guyot Institute, Effatha and the Institute for the Deaf) which will be involved in this study. Parental involvement at those institutes will be compared to parental involvement at the organization Royal Kentalis which was founded in 2009 and is an amalgamation of a number of institutes and schools for the deaf, including the three mentioned institutes.
Method: Documents that have been found on the internet and in archives will be analyzed, using the qualitative method of Grounded Theory.
Results: It appeared that, in 1970, all institutes had a parent association. The Institute for the Deaf and Effatha publicized a magazine to keep parents updated. At the Guyot Institute the parents association publicized such a magazine. In the present many parent associations are brought under one overarching organization, called the Dutch Federation of Parents of Deaf Children (FODOK). Nowadays deaf children live more often with their parents in comparison with 1970.
Conclusion: The institutes around 1970 differed in being open towards parents and the amount of influence they gave to parents associations. Nowadays, parents have more direct communication with their children in comparison with 1970 and less direct communication with school. Also, there was found a change from informal to formal contact between parents and the schools over the two periods. | |
