Attitudes of parents of children with developmental disabilities about distance learning

During the COVID-19 epidemic, distance learning was implemented by all the educational institutions in the Republic of Serbia. Due to the fact that children with disabilities were included in this type of learning, this research aimed to investigate the experiences and attitudes of their parents towards distance learning. The research sampled 61 participants, and the research instrument consisted of the adjusted questions that the authors retrieved from the research previously done in China. The participants completed an online questionnaire, and the results were interpreted with descriptive and inferential statistics. According to the statistical analysis, the parents that spent more time on their children’s education than usual, as well as parents with a higher level of education demonstrated more negative views on distance learning. Apart from that, their attitudes towards distance learning were negative in general, and the parents’ and teachers’ interaction plays a significant role in the parents’ satisfaction with distance learning. The results highlight the need for encouraging the interaction and cooperation between parents, school, and children in distance learning planning and organization while taking the specific needs of children with disabilities into consideration.U vreme epidemije virusa COVID-19 u Republici Srbiji organizovana je nasta- va na daljinu u svim obrazovnim ustanovama. Budući da su deca sa smetnjama u razvoju takođe bila uključena u ovaj vid nastave, cilj ovog istraživanja je bio da se ispitaju stavovi i iskustva njihovih roditelja sa nastavom na daljinu. U istraživanju je učestovao 61 ispitanik, a kao instrument autori su koristi- li prilagođenu verziju upitnika o stavovima roditelja o nastavi na daljinu, čija je originalna verzija primenjena u istraživanju sprovedenom u Kini. Ispitanicima je upitnik dodeljen u elektronskoj formi. Rezulati su obrađeni korišćenjem metoda deskriptivne i inferencijalne statistike. Kako je poka- zala statistička analiza, roditelji koji su više vremena provodili sa svojom decom u ispunjavanju školskih obaveza nego inače, kao i roditelji sa višim ste- penom obrazovanja imali su negativnije stavove o nastavi na daljinu. Takođe, pokazalo se da su stavovi roditelja prema nastavi na daljinu pretežno nega- tivni, kao i da interakcija roditelja sa nastavnicima igra značajnu ulogu u tome koliko su roditelji zadovoljni nastavom na daljinu. Ovakvi nalazi upućuju na to da je prilikom planiranja i organizacije nastave na daljinu nužno pod- sticati interakciju i saradnju roditelja, škola i ove dece, uzimajući u obzir njihove specifične potreb