A Study on Parents’ Perceptions of University-Based Lifelong Education for Adult Development Disabilities

The purpose of this study is to contribute to revitalizing lifelong education activities in universities for adults with developmental disabilities through parental awareness of university-based lifelong education for adults with developmental disabilities. The research method was to conduct in-depth interviews for 2 hours each with 7 parents of adults with developmental disabilities who have lifelong education experience, and 5 major themes were derived. As a result of the study, the research participants came up with ‘Life of a Disabled Family’, which contains the various lives desired by children and the hearts of parents, as revealed through the unusual lives they have experienced since childhood due to their children’s disabilities, and the theme ‘Education is like this’ was derived. They wanted education with a sense of accomplishment, such as life cycle-specific education and customized education. In ‘Experienced and Necessary Among the Six Areas of Lifelong Education’, everything from hobbies to education necessary for a life of independence was revealed. In ‘What my child needs’, they wanted a professional teacher who could solve the problem of lack of educational information and various types of information and understand disabilities. Finally, the theme of ‘future dreams and direction of lifelong education’ was derived, so that adults with developmental disabilities The need for lifelong education in university courses was derived for continuous education. Accordingly, I suggested staying at the university to participate in continuing education courses and seek professional knowledge and qualifications. In addition, the need for information on college admissions for adults with developmental disabilities and an information network with institutions was suggested through the establishment of a one-stop information integration system.