Thesis:

Parental support in education for hearing impaired children in Early childhood education in Kajiado county.

The purpose of the study was to investigate parental support in education for hearing impaired children in early childhood education in Kajiado County. The study was guided by four objectives. They were: to establish ways in which parents with children who were hearing impaired supported their children in early childhood education; to investigate how hearing parents communicated with their hearing impaired children; to find out intervention measures used to prepare children with hearing loss; to explore the environmental barriers that affected hearing impaired children in early childhood education. The government of Kenya recognizes the importance of Special Needs Education and is committed to the equal access to quality and relevant education and training opportunities to all Kenyans. However parents of hearing impaired children have been facing challenges in supporting their children in early childhood education. The study was guided by constructivist theory of readiness and development and a relevant conceptual framework was developed. Relevant literature was reviewed and the existing gap identified. The County had two Special Units for the deaf. The study was carried out in the two special units. It was conducted using descriptive survey. The target population of the study comprised of 40 parents, 6 teachers and one education officer. The sample of the study was 40 parents, 6 teachers and 1 education officer. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview guides. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze quantitative data while qualitative data was analyzed thematically based on the objectives of the study. The findings revealed that: most parents preferred paying fees for their hearing children; did not assist their children in homework and preferred placement of their children in boarding schools. They also did not communicate freely with their hearing impaired children due to their low literacy levels. Stigmatization by hearing peers; lack of co-operation from parents and difficulty in transition from home to school were some of the environmental barriers identified. It was concluded that most parents of hearing impaired children were not supportive with early childhood education. The recommendations made were: the Ministry of Health and the private health sector should: equip mothers with skills of identifying children with disabilities at an early age: offer screening and referral services. Schools catering for hearing impaired children should hold frequent workshop with parents to: discuss the importance of their involvement in preparation of teaching and learning materials and equip them with basic sign language skills to enhance communication with their hearing impaired children. Suggestions for further research are: to investigate parental support for learners with other disabilities in early childhood education; to investigate parental support for hearing impaired learners in primary school education in Kajiado County.