Measuring Knowledge and Awareness of Health and Feeding of Children with Cerebral Palsy among Students of the College of Education: A Comparative Study

Cerebral palsy is one of the main causes of motor impairment among children. Children with cerebral palsy are enrolled in integration schools with healthy children and taught by family education teachers. The current study aims to measure knowledge and awareness of health and feeding of children with cerebral palsy among students of special education and family education at Umm Al-Qura University. The comparative descriptive approach was adopted and a questionnaire was applied to (240) students (130 special education students and 110 family education students).
The results showed that academic specialization has a positive impact on knowledge and awareness of cerebral palsy among children. Statistical analysis and t-test results demonstrated statistically significant differences in the level of knowledge and awareness of health and feeding of children with cerebral palsy, in favor of special education students. About (50%) of family education students were reluctant in responding to the questions of having knowledge of cerebral palsy symptoms. Special education students’ responses showed a higher level of knowing impaired child’s behavior and self-feeding difficulties. (94.6%) of special education students, compared to (69.1%) of family education students, knew the steps of feeding a child with cerebral palsy, such as adjusting body, head, pelvis and limbs posture, sitting down correctly, and using adapted feeding  tools, i.e. made of reinforced paper or plastic. The study concluded that education and field of specialization play an important role in identifying children with cerebral palsy and exploring their characteristics and thus enabling early intervention to reduce its complications. It recommends developing mentoring programs to raise awareness of children with cerebral palsy, concerning its symptoms and importance of early intervention, among students of education, in general, and family education students, in particular.