Abstract

The purpose of this study is to portray the phenomena of information poverty of the families of children with developmental disabilities. The focus was especially put on investigating their information needs of everyday lives and information-seeking behaviors. The sample group includes six children with developmental disabilities and their families, mainly mothers. The investigation was conducted by the participant observation and in-depth interviews. The study found out that they sought the formal information sources such as medical specialists and special agencies first with which they were not satisfied. As a result, they rather relied on informal information sources. And the information from 'the group of families of children with developmental disabilities' was thought to be the most reliable information for them. In terms of information related behaviors, the strongest information needs were regarding the children's special education, especially to the school education, and they made effort to seek reliable information. They, however, tended to passively treat their personal concerns that are not related to their disabled children. This study found out that their information poverty is in terms of the information environment, information sources and their attitude to information, and that it comes from the external(social) factors as well as internal(individual) ones.