Determinants of Professional-Parental Agreement for the Developmental Status of Young Handicapped Children

Abstract

Several factors have resulted in an increased interest on the part of professionals in collecting and using data from parents during assessment procedures conducted with young handicapped children. However, the results of recent studies which have examined differences between the developmental status of the child as described by parents and as evaluated by professionals have been contradictory. Some have concluded that parents provide significantly higher estimates of the child's development, while others have found no such differences. This study was designed to investigate relationships between parent- and child-related demographic variables and percentages of agreement calculated between both mothers and fathers and a diagnostician. Forty mothers and 32 fathers of handicapped children enrolled in early intervention programs were interviewed in order to complete the Developmental Profile. An overall percentage of agreement was calculated for each child by comparing parental data with that obtained by a diagnostician who scored the Developmental Profile by direct testing and observation. Significant relationships were found between some of the demographic variables and percentages of agreement. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for assessment procedures.