AWARENESS OF PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES ABOUT EARLY SUPPORT SERVICES

Parents of children with disabilities receive many different forms of support, and among those is also the support provided by professionals from different systems. It is very important for parents to be informed about early support services so that their children can be included in the services in a timely manner. The aim of this research was to determine parents’ awareness of the system of early support services for children with disabilities and their families in Brod-Posavina and Istria counties.In total, 152 parents participated in the study, out of which 63,8% were female and 36,2% were male. The average age of parents is 38 years. Data was collected using a questionnaire specifically designed for the purpose of this study, which is a component of a large-scale research on early support provided to children with disabilities and their parents. The first part of the questionnaire concerns sociodemographic characteristics, while the second part deals with the parents’ awareness of the system of early support services with regard to sociodemographic characteristics of parents. Considering the findings of the regression analysis, parents with a higher education were also better informed about early support services (ß = .25, p < .01). The collected data are a useful source about information of early support services by parents.Key words: system of early support services, parents' awareness, children with disabilities.