IOSR Journal of Nursing and Health Science (IOSR-JNHS) e-ISSN: 2320–1959.p- ISSN: 2320–1940 Volume 8, Issue 6 Ser. III. (Nov - Dec .2019), PP 39-47 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/1959-0806033947 www.iosrjournals.org 39 | Page Pattern of Coping among Caregivers of Children with Physical Special Needs Norah G. Alkhaledi 1,2 1 Faculty of Nursing, Umm Al QuraUniversity , Makkah, KSA 2 Faculty of Nursing, King Saud University ,Riyadh, KSA Abstract: Background: Adapting &coping strategies are demand to reduce a stressful situation for families/ caregivers of chronically physical disabled children. Design: Quantitative exploratory, cross sectional, correlative research design was conducted in this study. Method: The total number of the study subjects were 218 caregivers, using purposive sample at the "Association of Disabled Children" at Makkah Al-Mukaramah city. A developed self-administrative questioner sheet was used. It composed of nine coping techniques and 59 informational items. Likert scale was ranged from(1) I usually don't do this at all, (2) I usually do this a little bit, (3) I usually do this a medium amount and (4) I usually do this a lot. Higher score indicating higher positive coping strategies. Results: Caregivers’ age ranged between 21-50 years and majority (83%) of them were their mother. They obtain poor level (3.0 ±0.36) score toward nine coping strategies. Conclusion: It could be concluded that this study highlight the importance of coping strategies used by caregivers, most of caregivers had poor scores toward nine coping techniques. It recommends that to raise caregivers’ awareness to a pply and use different coping strategies. Caregivers need training to use skills to modify their negative behaviours. Key wards: caregivers, physical disabilities, coping strategies --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 04-11-2019 Date of acceptance: 20-11-2019 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction Raising a child with a disability has been recognized for some time as a major source of burden and distress in family care giving. The additional childcare demands associated with a child’s disability can create significant parental stress as well as disruption in family relationships such demands persist throughout childhood and into adulthood, requiring continuous adaptation by family members to ongoing challenges and crises (Banks, 2003). Developmental disability refers to a range of conditions including intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, autistic spectrum disorder, learning disability, epilepsy, etc., most childhood disabilities are referred to as developmental disabilities, defined as any physical or mental condition that may impair or limit a child's ability to develop cognitively, physically, and emotionally compared to other children (Bostan, et al., 2015). Most of the disabilities unlike physical, which are noticed at birth, get undiagnosed until a child enters a school. It is difficult for caregivers to identify a developmental disability as they are normally not aware about the developmental stages of a child and more so if it is their first child. Professionals often have difficulty diagnosing a specific disability at such an early age, so the term developmental delay is utilized to qualify a child for services in infant and preschool programs (UN, 2007). Children with Developmental disability / physical special needs, who are children was born with a disabling health condition or impairment, most ofdisabilities as a result of illness, injury or poor nutrition. Children with physical special needs are those with health conditions such as cerebral palsy, spinal bifida, muscular dystrophy, traumatic spinal cord injury, Down syndrome, and children with hearing, visual, physical, communication and intellectual impairments. Some children with disabilities have a single or multiple impairments (New York State Department of Health, 2017). The term physical disability is broad and covers a range of disabilities and health issues, including both congenital and acquired disabilities. Within that range are physical disabilities or impairments that interfere with a child’s ability to attain the same developmental milestones as his or her age-mates. A physical disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities in life (i.e. walking, climbing stairs, reaching, carrying, or lifting). These limitations hinder the children from performing tasks of daily living, affect their learning, and affect his families their social and psychological functioning (Hampshire County Council, 2005 & New York State Department of Health, 2017). The study carried out by the World Bank in Egypt, Jordan and Yemen revealed that between 5% and 10% of children under age 18 are having at least one type of physical disabilities (World Bank, 2004). National survey in Saudi Arabia reported the prevalence of major disabilities among children to be 6.33% (Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia, 2013).