Abstract

• Study was to identify the structural and functional characteristics of social support system to better provide social support to physically handicapped children. The research design was a comparative descriptive study and the data were obtained by use of interview and questionnaire. The result of this were as follows; 1. The physically handicapped children perceived that they had a fewer number of social support providers than the non-handicapped children. (t= -4.62, p<.001) 2. The physically handicapped children perceived a lower level of social support than the non-handicapped children. (t=-3.93, p<. 001) In the cases of 3 types of social support (social integration, attachment/intimacy, assistance/guidance), the handicapped children perceived a lower level of social support. 3. It was found that physically handicapped chilren and nonhandicapped children perceived degree of socical support differently (x(2)=72,08, p<.001). and; also the two groups perceived in all types of social support differently. 4. The results of this study showed that parents, school mates, school teachers, brothers and sisters were significant providers of social support and between the two groups the supportive source ranked consistently. (rs=. 83, p<.01) 5. The relationship between sociability and the support level was a positive correlation (r=.28, p<. 01), the relationship between sociability and the size of the support network showed a positive correlation. (r=.47, p<.01) And with the increase in the number of friends the number of support providers increased. (F= 4.46, p<.05).

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