Seema Saikia and Ramya Bhaskar
Avinashilingam Institute of Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore
Pages:220-232
The deliberations on the KAP of parents on pre-requisite skills of autistic children have
been less. The study aimed to examine the KAP and evaluate the effect of the
sensitization program in enhancing the KAP of parents. A total of 143 parents were
drawn through simple random sampling from various special schools in Coimbatore
city of Tamil Nadu. Self-constructed scales tested for reliability were used to assess
the KAP of parents. The levels of KAP of parents showed an average of low. The
sample paired t-test showed a significant difference in pre and post-test scores of the
experimental group compared to the control group, with Cohen’s D showing a small
effect size in knowledge (D=0.2) and a moderate effect size in attitude (D=0.6) and
practices (D=0.5). The multivariate analysis measure showed no variance in the
experimental group’s post-test and post-follow-up scores: follow-up one (after 10-day
intervals) and follow-up two (after a month’s interval). The follow-up scores were found
to be slightly low. The results encapsulate that the current sensitization program has
affected the KAP of parents. Developing an intervention program would be more effective
for a positive outcome