Home⇛International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business and Education Research⇛vol. 7 no. 9 (2026)

Understanding Parent'S Experiences In Home-Based Learning For Children With Special Needs: A Phenomenological Inquiry

Genesis T. Felipe | Jeremy Adrian D. Gulang

Discipline: Childhood and Youth Studies

 

Abstract:

Home-based programs can be useful in educating and developing children and youth with special needs when specialized educational and therapeutic services are geographically distant, financially burdensome or limited. In Ilocos Sur, families may face challenges in terms of distance, transportation, connectivity and access to specialized services and parents play a major role in supporting learning at home. This qualitative phenomenological study investigated the perceptions of ten parents on home-based learning, their challenges in implementing it and coping mechanisms to address educational, emotional and caregiving demands. The researcher developed a semi-structured interview guide in English, Tagalog and Iloko and the data collected were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Seven themes emerged: (1) home-based learning as a constrained but responsive and child-centered educational alternative, (2) parental attunement and the reframing of progress toward functional development, (3) the convergence of teaching, caregiving, livelihood, and time demands, (4) material, geographic, technological, and service-related inequities, (5) learning negotiated through emotional and behavioral readiness, (6) meaning-focused resilience through acceptance, patience, faith, and recognition of small gains, and (7) distributed and adaptive coping through routines, family cooperation, play-based strategies, peer connection, and professional guidance. Parents valued the comfort, flexibility, close monitoring, individualized pace and opportunities at home for developing communication, self-care and daily living skills. These benefits, however, were coupled with role overload, fatigue, limited learning resources, poor connectivity, distant services, child refusal and uncertainty about suitable teaching strategies. Parents responded with shorter, gamified activities, household items, scheduling rest, sharing responsibilities, seeking advice, praying and celebrating small victories. The findings showed that parental resilience may be a factor in the sustainability of home-based learning, but it should not replace the available special education services, professional consultation, material assistance and community-based support that respond to the realities of families in Ilocos Sur.



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