Coping strategies of parents of children with special needs in Cavite

The study utilized quantitative, descriptive, non-experimental, and survey research design which were used to obtain information based on the main objective of the study. Respondents of the study were parents of children with special needs that attend in schools that cater for children with special needs in the Province of Cavite. Purposive and snowball sampling were used in the study in which the respondents were selected based on the inclusion criteria set by the researchers. The research instrument used was adapted and modified from the instrument created by Carver et al. (1989) cited in University of Miami (2007) entitled Brief Coping Orientation Problem Experience (COPE). Data was analyzed using frequency distribution, mean, percentage, t-test and f-test. On the basis of the summary of findings, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) the coping strategies that were always practiced by the respondents were acceptance, planning, positive reframing and religion; (2) There were no significant differences on the coping strategies of parents of children with special needs when they were grouped according to educational attainment, gender, number of children, socio-economic status and type of special needs of children but there is a significant difference when they were grouped according to age