Abstract
The purpose of this study is to explore the cognition and participation of parents in the preschool transition services for children with special needs in Taichung city, and to understand the difficulties and assistance needed for parents. The research instrument is the questionnaire on ”Parent Participation in Preschool Transition Services for Children with Special Needs in Taichung City”. There were 200 copies sent out, 173 questionnaires were returned and analyzed. The data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson product-moment correlation. The results of this study were as follows: (1) Most parents had good understanding of preschool transition services, among which ”The importance of parent participation in preschool transition services” scored the highest. (2) Most parents had good participation in preschool transition services, among which ”Participation in school aspect” and ”Participation in family aspect” scored the highest. (3) Parents from different residential regions, education levels, and household income can significantly affect parent cognition and participation of the preschool transition services. (4) Parent cognition of preschool transition services can predict parent participation in preschool transition services. (5) The main difficulty for parents was lack of enough ability and skills to teach their children; the main assistance needed for parents was that the teachers really accepted their children. Based on the research results, recommendations were made in terms of administration, schools, and parents.