Interaction with Community and Quality of Life of Families with Children with Development Difficulties

Rad sadrţi teorijske koncepte vezane uz djecu s teškoćama u razvoju i obuhvaća povijesni pregled odnosa prema djeci s posebnim potrebama, vaţeće konvencije, zakone i propise koji djeci s teškoćama u razvoju jamĉe jednaka prava i mogućnosti kao i ostaloj djeci. Rad problematizira i kvalitetu ţivota obitelji djece s teškoćama u razvoju i interakciju sa zajednicom. Drugi dio rada sadrţi istraţivanje provedeno u centrima i ustanovama za odgoj i obrazovanje na podruĉju Splitsko-dalmatinske ţupanije putem upitnika. Cilj istraţivanja bio je utvrditi kako odgojitelji, edukacijski rehabilitatori, pedagozi, psiholozi, logopedi i drugi struĉnjaci procjenjuju kvalitetu ţivota obitelji djece s teškoćama u razvoju i njihovu interakciju sa zajednicom. Rezultati istraţivanja pokazali su kako ispitanike zabrinjava prihvaćenost djece s teškoćama i njihovih obitelji u društvu. TakoĊer, zabrinjava ih dostupnost struĉnjaka specijaliziranih za rad s djecom s teškoćama, no najviše su zabrinuti za samostalnost djece u njihovoj budućnosti. Prema rezultatima istraţivanja, ispitanici smatraju kako na kvalitetu ţivota obitelji utjeĉu brojni ĉimbenici kao što su zdravlje i financijsko blagostanje obitelji, obiteljski odnosi, prihvaćenost u društvu, upoznatost roditelja s pravima djece s teškoćama u razvoju, ali i interakcija sa zajednicom.The thesis contains theoretical cocnepts referring to children with disabilities. This comprises a historical overview of relations with children with disabilities as well as valid conventions, acts and regulations which guarantee equal rights to children with disabilities and regular children. Furthemore, the first part discusses families with children with disabilities, their life quality and interaction with the community. The second part of the thesis refers to the research which was implemented in childhood education and care centres and institutions in the area of Split-Dalmatia County. The research was implemented via a questionnaire. Research aim was to establish how educators, rehabilitators, pedagogues, psychologists, speech therapists and other experts who work with children with disabilities evaluate life quality of families with children with disabilities and their interaction with community. The results of research showed that examinees are worried about the acceptance of children with disabilities and their families in society. Also, they are worried about availability of experts who are specialised for the work with children with disabilities, but they are the most worried about autonomy of those childrenin the future. According to the results of the research, the examinees think that many different facts such as health and financial conditions of family, family relations, acceptance in society, the knowledge of rights for children with disabilities and interaction with the society influence on the quality of family life