Professional help Seeking Behavior Patterns in Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

When parents discover that their child has developmental delay, they undergo an emotionally shattering experience. This grim situation predisposes them to shop for professional advice, drugs or other palliatives to overcome their predicament. While there is justification in seeking a professional second opinion on their child’s condition; for some parents, the shopping spree for seeking professional help becomes an endless and futile exercise. This results in loss of precious time that could otherwise be profitably utilized in implementation of early infant stimulation program to optimally benefit their child. This paper attempts to discover the nature, frequency and duration of professional consultations sought by parents of children with developmental delays. The results show that parents go through a long drawn out itinerary of shopping for professional help. This is influenced by variables like severity, sex, age, diagnostic condition of the child as well as allied socio-demographic variables. The details are presented and discussed in the light of the need and importance to curb such treatment seeking practices in parents of children at risk or those with development al delays.