Call number: LD2668 .T4 1965 B71 / Master of Science

The cochlear implant represents a radical intervention in the hearing-impaired child's life, which has a profound influence on the feelings and emotions of the child's family. In this study it is endeavoured to identify and to describe this influence. A literature study was done. Families of implanted children in Scotland and in South Africa filled in questionnaires and interviews were held. This study illuminates the fact that parents suffer stress and have various concerns before as well as after the implant. Different reasons why parents decide to give their child a cochlear implant are described. The researcher came to the conclusion that the implanted child functions in a more balanced way and that parents are very satisfied after the implantation. The effect of the implant is described under the following categories: communication, feelings of parents, effect on the deaf child, normality, effect on parents, effect on siblings. / Education / M.Ed.(Guidance and Counselling)

published_or_final_version / abstract / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

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Ph.D. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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This thesis is concerned with families and chronic illness in childhood. The specific focus of the study is the nursing contribution to support of the family. A longitudinal study of the experience of four families caring for a child with cystic fibrosis was carried out using the ethnographic approach. Analysis of the four case studies provides insight to the effect of cystic fibrosis on each family member and on family interaction. The psychosocial transition by which the families moved from seeing themselves as healthy families to accepting the reality of a long-term health problem is described. The complexity of the effect of the genetic aspects and the grim prognosis is explored. The importance of finding meaning in suffering, the experiences of crisis and the chronic burden of care during the long-term adaptive stage of the illness are described. The support networks used by the families, and the nurse's contribution to that support are analysed. The research arose from practice and raises issues for nursing - issues relating to the level of interpersonal skill and the emotional investment required. The theoretical underpinning of nursing interaction is elaborated and the utility of systems theory in the understanding of the nursing situation is discussed. The importance of synchrony in the parents' adaptation to the child's illness is an emergent theme. The implications of the findings for nursing practice, management and research are discussed. The case for the development of a concept of family nursing to meet contemporary health care needs is argued.

The number of children identified as emotionally disturbed has been increasing. The success rate for these children has been disappointingly low in both their academic and post-academic lives. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between children identified as emotionally disturbed and their families, and to recommend strategies and family services that could increase the success rate of this particular population.Information was obtained from two self-report instruments, FACES II and a Personal Information Questionnaire, and from social-developmental histories and psychoeducational evaluations. The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (FACES II) is a 30-item, self-report instrument that scores a family's view of flexibility and cohesion on the Circumplex Model grid. The Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems is a family typology that is based on the family's degree of flexibility and cohesion. The Personal Information Questionnaire was a demographic instrument used to obtain marital status and economic factors. Grade levels and incidents of child abuse were obtained from social-developmental histories and psychoeducational evaluations.Data were collected from families with children identified as emotionally disturbed. A total of twenty-seven children, ages eight to eighteen, and one parent of each child were included in the study (N = 54). Responses to FACES II and items on the questionnaire were analyzed usingchi-square analysis.Seventy-four percent of the families were classified as dysfunctional based on their responses to FACES II. Less than half of these families rated as disengaged on the cohesion level and more than half of these families rated as rigid on the flexibility level. The school levels of these children were also significant. A higher percentage of families with children in high school were dysfunctional as compared with families with children in elementary school. Parent relational status was not significant. The functional level of the family was not affected if the parents were married, divorced, or widowed. A relationship did exist between families with children identified as emotionally disturbed and reported incidents of child abuse. The dysfunctional families had a higher rate of reported child abuse while those families who were more balanced had fewer reported incidents of child abuse. Finally, socioeconomic status was not a factor in the functional level of the families.Findings from this study may assist school personnel when providing services for children identified as emotionally disturbed and their families. Teachers of students who are emotionally disturbed and general education teachers who will service these students require an accurate understanding of the etiological factors associated with the development of a child identified as emotionally disturbed. By assessing the family's specific areas of strength and weaknesses, school and community services could be provided to meet the needs of the families and their children. / Department of Special Education

The cochlear implant represents a radical intervention in the hearing-impaired child's life, which has a profound influence on the feelings and emotions of the child's family. In this study it is endeavoured to identify and to describe this influence. A literature study was done. Families of implanted children in Scotland and in South Africa filled in questionnaires and interviews were held. This study illuminates the fact that parents suffer stress and have various concerns before as well as after the implant. Different reasons why parents decide to give their child a cochlear implant are described. The researcher came to the conclusion that the implanted child functions in a more balanced way and that parents are very satisfied after the implantation. The effect of the implant is described under the following categories: communication, feelings of parents, effect on the deaf child, normality, effect on parents, effect on siblings. / Education / M.Ed.(Guidance and Counselling)

M.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract