A framework for helping muslim parents of children with hearing loss in a special education school in Malaysia

Abstract

Parents of children with hearing loss (CHL) face a myriad of additional challenges, on top of the ordinary parenting challenges. In the Malaysian Muslim context, educating children is of prime importance and the family is considered the building block of the society, however, issues related to parenting CHL seem to be neglected. Thus, the objective of this qualitative study which is to develop a framework for helping Muslim parents of CHL in Malaysia is both timely and befitting. Prior to the development of the framework, the parents’ experiences were explored via the lenses of Islamic and Bio-ecological perspectives. Phenomenology and Grounded Theory approaches were also utilized. Eleven parents and four teachers were involved in 32 interviews. Data from the interviews were triangulated with observation. In addition, questionnaire for parents, a research journal and memo were used as instruments to collect additional data. ATLAS.ti Version 7 software was used for data analysis and general data management. From the process of open, axial and selective coding, four main categories and 18 categories emerged. “Lack of authentic information” stood out as the core category and transcended into three domains, namely “hearing loss and related issues” “parenting and related issues” and “Islam”. The framework addresses the issues of lack of authentic information within these three domains. Based on the findings, several recommendations have been proposed to assist parents and each party in the parents’ microsystem, as well as to the Local Education Authority, helpers and future researchers. Anyone associated with parents of CHL would benefit from this study by understanding the complexity and challenges of parenting CHL, and using the framework as a guide to help them.