Prejudices Towards Children with Limited Abilities

The study was conducted at the Child Development Center in Tirana and the community close to it. Prejudice is a negative and unjustifiable stance toward a group and its members based only on their membership in the group. A pity and undervalue stance is kept towards parents, working staff and disable children. Such conclusion is drawn from interviewing 100 persons: 30 disable children parents, 20 working staff and 50 people from community randomly selected. Community sensitivity on some of the forms causes and consequences of prejudices towards children with limited abilities, their parents and working staff and making people conscious in reducing prejudices toward this social group. Vertical grill observation conducted in children environment, structured interviews conducted with parents and working staff and focus group were the used instruments. The focus group was organized in cooperation with specialist of the area from civil society, Social Service and homologues centers. Analysis with SPSS program, shows that 60% of parents think that cause for prejudices is lack of information. 55% think that lobbying serves to defend children and parents rights. 20% think that prejudices ruin couples relationships. 20% of them think that one of the parents should leave their job to serve their children. 30% do not believe in professional abilities of the working staff. From the interviewers in community, 45% think that prejudices are reduced if children are educated in public education systems. Working staff (50%), connect the causes for prejudice to the low general intellectual level of people and 40% of them see to education psychological technique as means of promotion for harmonious co-existence. Cooperation, parents, civil society, centers working staffs and media reduce prejudice. Ratification of Disabled Children Rights Convention and approval of Integration Law would help in reducing them. Children are different in abilities but equal to the rights as their others.