Individual Differences in Parental Support for Home-Numeracy in Pre-schoolers with Intellectual Disabilities: A Cluster Analytic Approach

Mathematics education during the early years involves researching the role of parental practices that could promote numeracy directly or indirectly. In cases of pre-schoolers with Intellectual Disabilities, the phenomenon is characterized by more complexity. This study aims to shed light on the individual differences in parental support for home-numeracy in pre-schoolers with Intellectual Disabilities taking into consideration the parent’s expectations about his/her child's school readiness. We employed a two-step cluster analysis in a sample of n=374 parents. Statistical analysis yielded seven different profiles for participating parents, including profiles from (1) Moderate Expectations, Few Numeracy-Related Activities to (7) High Expectations, High Numeracy-Related Activities. Also, we examined the effects of activities related to direct literacy, fine motor, and general skills unrelated to mathematics or literacy that parents employ to assist their children during this critical developmental period.