Satisfaction of parents of special needs children with early treatment services in the development clinic with the posavje centre for early childhood care

Early childhood is a crucial time in the development of every child, as it is a period of acquiring vital early experiences that affect many areas of development. Early intervention (hereinafter referred to as EI) provides multidisciplinary professional assistance to pre-school children with special needs (hereinafter PCSN). It encourages the child in multiple learning areas, thus contributing to reducing cognitive, emotional, social, and motor barriers before entering the school environment. It is important that during this process we also focus on the child's family and provide them with appropriate medical, psychological and special pedagogical assistance. The master's thesis aimed to use a questionnaire to determine the extent to which parents feel they are actively involved in the EI services within the Developmental Disabilities Dispensary in the Posavje Child Health Center for EI and to what extent they reflect their involvement during all activities which are in any way related to their children and family. We were interested in more detail to what extent they were satisfied with the exchange of information on the child's developmental status, what was their general awareness of EI, what are their opportunities for active participation during the child's assessment, team meetings, how satisfied they are with treatment and where they see the key advantages and disadvantages of EI involvement. 49 parents participated in the study. Data were obtained using a non-standardized questionnaire. We used a quantitative research approach. Through the research, we discovered that parents generally have very good experience with the Krško Developmental Clinic and feel included during various activities within EI (obtaining an assessment of the child's development, a sense of equality in the role with experts, considering their opinion). Positive experiences were also mentioned in providing information on the functioning of the child who was given to them clearly and understandably. They would like more information about the institutions or organizations that they could contact outside the Krško Developmental Clinic and practical training, where they would also get clear information on how to work with the child at home (daily activities, handling, etc.). We found that there is a statistically significant interdependence between different levels of parents' education concerning the participation in additional education regarding the child's problems. Parents are mostly satisfied with the number of offered treatments. Some pointed out the disadvantage that due to the epidemic, the changed working conditions have strongly marked the frequency of EI and thus signified lesser progress of the child. They see the key advantage of EI in the greater progress of the child and accessibility of professionals. As a shortcoming, some parents pointed out the lack of guidance on how to work at home. During the research, we found that half of the parents received some psychosocial help and support during EI, while the other half did not. The equal involvement of experts from different disciplines is positively approved and seen as a great contribution in assessing the child's functioning from several different aspects. All but one parent do not see any differences between the experts of the multidisciplinary team in Krško Developmental Clinic in giving instructions. We found that some parents additionally pay for private treatments and that a certain proportion of them intend to do so in the future as well. Overall, the parental awareness of the EI program is generally good. They recognize what the main purpose of EI is and recognize its multidisciplinary approach. With our master's thesis, we have contributed a great portion to the scientific progress of the profession within the Posavje Child Health Center for EI