Kumar, R.S (PhD)Seid, Alhamdu2018-06-272023-11-102018-06-272023-11-102006-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/3997Nowaday, communit based rehabilitation (I BR) has been looked up on as a 'olution to achieving practical and efficient rehabilitation approach. Keeping this in mind this research work was initiated to inve tigate the effect of CBR on families of children with menLal retardation (MR), To meet the objective, Addis Development Vision (ADV) located in Addis Ababa was selected as a ample organization. Ten parents with MR from 10 familie', four community rehabilitation worke~ (I RWs), and the program coordinator of the sampled organization were selected as respondent. The participants were selected based on purposive technique. Semi- structured interview schedule, focus group discussion guide and review of document, were used as tools in the main study .Among the ten families of parents, four were reserved for interview, and the remaining for focus group discu sion. The CRWs and program coordinator have been interviewed The data obtained were organized, analyzed and interpreted using qualitative approach. At the very moment the parent realized that their children were mentally retarded, they have developed a sense of hopelessness, shame and disbelief and denial of the facL. However, after joining the CBR, the reactions of parent to their children were improved This was achieved through parents meeting, individual counseling and social rehabilitation work . Therefore this study could establish that CBR program has been able to bring about improvement in the living condition of children with MR and their families. The families have confirmed that they have received different services from the cenlrelADVI. However, in spite of their poor living condition and need of immediate intervention to get their daily bread, skill training and income generating activities were not conducted aiming to benefit all the families of children with MR. The major problem identified in this study are low financial status of familie " which made them concentrate more on earning their daily bread than looking ajier their chddren. The other problem is related to the quality and quantity of CRWs in the area of rendering services Lo the children. The last one is the high frequency of changing the school and Kebeles admini tration. Therefore, it is believed that the CBR center hould be encouraged to trengthen the existing services to bring considerable change in the life of the children with MR, their familie and the community as well.enSpecial needs educationThesis