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Purpose: This study investigated the attitudes of secondary school teachers towards students with blindness or partial sight in selected states in Nigeria.

Method: The authors utilised the modified version of a previous instrument to collect data from 306 secondary school teachers in Nigeria. Six basic questions were established to address: respondents’ attitudes towards inclusion; training acquired related to teaching; knowledge pertaining to policy and legislation; confidence levels to teach students with disabilities.; impact of geographical location; and differences in attitudes by the variables of subject(s) taught, school level taught, and years of teaching experience.

Results: Attitudes of participants were mixed but were generally positive. The level of training was low, with teachers showing limited knowledge of policy and legislation. A little over a quarter (27%) of them lacked confidence in teaching. There were differences in attitudes related to the geographical location of respondents. Those who taught at the senior secondary school level tended to have higher attitude scores on average than their counterparts at the junior secondary school level.

Conclusion and Limitations: This study used self-report measures, although observations and interviews could be additional ways to evaluate the attitudes of participants throughout the country. Moreover, in-service programmes may need to be implemented to increase teachers’ knowledge base and expand their experiences in line with established policies and legislation.

Purpose: The study focussed on the effect of Abacus training on numerical ability (comprising of counting and mathematical operations) of children with hearing loss.

Method: 90 students with hearing loss were sampled from 6 special schools in Mumbai, India. A quasi- experimental study was employed using two group pre-test and post-test design. Data were collected using the Numerical Ability Test (NAT) as an instrument. Six null hypotheses based on the objectives were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance using t-Test - Assuming Equal Variances.

Results: The findings revealed that the experimental group which was instructed through Abacus showed higher proficiency in numerical ability as compared to the control group instructed through the conventional method. Gender as a variable seems to influence the mean achievement of numerical ability of students with hearing loss. While girls and boys did not differ in simple tasks such as counting, boys were found to be better in mathematical operations and overall numerical ability.

Conclusions: The Abacus teaching method results in higher mathematical achievements among students with hearing loss. Gender also plays an important role in mathematical learning, as evidenced by boys demonstrating more numerical ability than girls in the study sample.

Aim:  A cluster randomized cross-sectional survey to assess the prevalence of disability and access to support services was conducted in Albay Province, the Philippines in April 2016.

Method:  The population-based survey methodologies developed by the Washington Group of the United Nations Statistical Commission and UNICEF were utilized.  A sample of 70 barangays (the 3rd level administrative division in the Philippines) was selected as clusters, with probability proportional to size, and 30 households were selected randomly in each barangay to be surveyed.

Results:  The estimated prevalence of disability using the standard criteria of the Washington Group and UNICEF among children (2-17 years old) was 2.0% and for adults (≥18 years old) it was 6.5%.  The estimated prevalence of disability was higher in rural than in urban areas.  Deficiencies in the performance of existing services were identified; access by children with disabilities to support services was lowest in rural highland and rural plain barangays.

Conclusions: There was a large unmet demand for support services addressing the needs of persons with disabilities in Albay Province, especially in rural highland areas.  Persons with disabilities were disadvantaged in access to education and employment; many had not been educated in their basic rights.

Implications:  To identify, educate and fully support persons with disabilities, community-based rehabilitation (CBR), health and other rehabilitation services must communicate effectively with each other, their current work should be mapped and analysed, their comparative strengths identified, and their future work coordinated.  It is a priority to educate persons with disabilities and their families about their rights, and facilitate their access to support services; this requires increased investment in communication targeting persons with disabilities and the communities, especially rural.  Providers caring for persons with disabilities need to work in partnership to identify unreached persons with disabilities.  Prevalence surveys, with stronger focus on the profiles and performance of CBR and related services, would add to the evidence-base to improve the quality and coverage of services for persons with disabilities.

Purpose: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong developmental disability characterised by difficulties in social interaction and social communication, and restricted and repetitive behaviour (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Despite its prevalence the world over, there is a paucity of research in some areas such as education, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper attempts to address the gap by exploring teachers’ understanding of ASD in Nigeria.

Method: Using an adapted version of the Knowledge About Childhood Autism Among Health Workers (KCAHW) questionnaire (Bakare et al, 2008), a survey was conducted among 177 mainstream primary teachers from Lagos State (112 from eleven urban schools and 65 from four rural schools).

Results: The total mean score on the Adapted KCAHW questionnaire among all the participating teachers was 10.81 ± 4.13 out of a possible total of 16. The mean score for urban teachers was 11.21 ± 4.31, while the mean score for rural teachers was 10.11 ± 3.75. In total, 46% of the urban teachers and 31% of the rural teachers demonstrated a generally accurate knowledge of ASD, with 15% (23 urban teachers and 4 rural teachers) of the sample answering all questions correctly.  Over 50% of urban teachers and almost 70% of rural teachers surveyed had only a low or moderate understanding of ASD.

Conclusions: This research supports previous studies that identified low professional knowledge and understanding of ASD, and a need for improved professional education and training. 

Limitations: The focus was on only one state within Nigeria, and only on mainstream primary schools. Further research is necessary across the educational age range as well as different geographical areas in the country.

Purpose: Since families are perceived to be active agents in the early intervention programmes of young children with disabilities, professionals ought to treat parents as equal partners and keep them informed and involved in various aspects of the intervention.  This study aimed to explore the areas in which parent empowerment is currently being facilitated in the early intervention centres for children with hearing loss.

Method: A qualitative research with conversational analysis was the approach used. Focus group discussions with the two primary stakeholders, namely parents and special educators, were held separately at five sites in Mumbai, to gather their views on the existing areas of empowerment. It was also decided to explore the felt needs of parents in this regard. Person triangulation was used to ascertain the credibility of the data.

Results: Conversational analysis yielded 4 themes with respect to parents: Parental knowledge, involvement, support and needs. 

Conclusion and Implications: The study highlighted the gaps in parent empowerment in the programmes undertaken by early intervention centres.  A recommendation is made to develop a common framework for empowering parents. It is envisaged that such a framework will bridge the gap between what currently exists for parents, their felt needs, and current global practices.  This framework could also assist in measuring family empowerment outcomes.

Purpose: To analyse clinical outcomes in terms of functional changes in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), before and after receiving a multidisciplinary developmental intervention programme.

Methods: Structured goal-oriented multidisciplinary intervention, individualised to each child, was implemented through 5 child development centres in Mumbai, India, in 2014-2015. Secondary data analysis of 38 children diagnosed with ASD, in the age group of 2.1 - 6.1 years, was conducted. All children received occupational therapy and speech therapy, and parental counselling was also done. The average number of intervention sessions were 48-72 for occupational therapy (twice or thrice a week), 24-48 for speech therapy (once or twice a week) and 5-6 for parental counselling (once a month). Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS) were used for assessment, before and after intervention.

Results: Mean positive difference in CARS total scores through paired t-test was 4.18 (p < 0.0001). Significant positive changes in functional ability were observed in most of the sub-scales (relating to people; object use; visual response; verbal and non-verbal communication; taste, smell and touch response and use; level and consistency of intellectual response and general impression). Paired t-test also showed significant positive changes on all VSMS sub-scales, exceptSocialisation.

Conclusions: The model used in this multidisciplinary intervention, and adherence to its protocols, has the potential to improve functional ability (or the child’s adaptation to his/her condition) in children with ASD, in a region with limited awareness of developmental disabilities.

Limitations: Separate effects of factors outside the intervention could not be tested due to inadequate sample sizes for sub-analyses. Results also need to be validated by tests that do not depend on parental reporting (e.g., CARS and VSMS) but assess the performance of the child instead.

Purpose: Although education, and higher education in particular, is considered a vehicle for empowerment, the enrolment of students with hearing impairment in secondary and higher secondary education is almost negligible in comparison to their hearing peers. This study was conducted in the city of Mumbai, India, with the aim of identifying the educational concerns of students with hearing impairment studying in secondary and higher secondary classes.

Method: The survey method was followed. A questionnaire, developed and validated by the researchers, was the study tool. The participants were 152 of the randomly selected 160 students with hearing impairment studying in secondary classes, and 42 of the randomly selected 45 students with hearing impairment studying in higher secondary classes. Percentage scores as part of descriptive statistics were calculated to arrive at the results.

Results: Various academic, administrative and personal concerns were identified among these students with hearing impairment in special schools.

Conclusions: As the focus of all educational programmes is on creating and promoting barrier-free education, the educational concerns identified in the current study cannot be ignored by schools, families and the community.

Purpose: Inclusive education and post-school life are crossover issues that cut across societal lines and therefore need a multisectoral approach. This study examines the educational opportunities of children with disability and their post-school life in rural Sri Lanka.

Methods: The research was implemented with multiple sectors in a rural area of the North Central Province, from January - November 2014. Mixed methods were applied as follows: surveys with children with disability aged 2 to 18 years (n=103); case studies of children with disability who dropped out of or did not attend school (n=3); semi-structured interviews with ex-students with disability who had attended special needs classes (n=13); and, informal interviews with a CBR core group officer. Data was mainly analysed with qualitative procedures.

Results: The study consists of 3 parts. The first part revealed that in terms of the current educational opportunities among children with disability aged 2 to 18 years, approximately 31.1% utilised educational resources whereas 38.8% were at home with no special social activities. The case studies in the second part revealed the reasons for limited educational opportunities in the area and the barriers to educational access, which included family members’ attitudes and socio-economic aspects such as poverty. The third part, consisting of semi-structured interviews with ex-students with disability who received education but did not participate in the CBR activities, revealed 3 types of post-school lifestyle: ‘time mostly spent at home’, ‘household chores’ and ‘temporary agricultural work’. The interviews also indicated other barriers to post-school participation, such as a lack of network and information, negative experiences during the schooling period, and families’ priorities. 

Conclusions: Inadequate educational opportunities among children with disability and barriers to post-school social participation in rural Sri Lanka are revealed. This study argues the importance of the multisectoral approach to find unidentified children as well as to conduct comprehensive programmes.

Purpose: The revised version of Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ’07) is a widely used parent-reported screening tool for DCD. The tool is not available in any Indian language. This article reports on the results of the cross-cultural validation of DCDQ’07 into Kannada, a South Indian language.

Methods: The questionnaire was first translated into Indian English to overcome differences in phraseology between Canadian and Indian English (DCDQ’07- IE). Following this, forward translation, synthesis, back translation, expert committee review, and pre-testing of the translated version were conducted to obtain the Kannada version of the questionnaire (DCDQ’07-K). Minor examples, in keeping with local usage, were added. 160 parents were recruited, among whom 80 were parents of children with motor difficulties and 80 were parents of children without motor difficulties. They rated their children on DCDQ’07- IE. After a washout period of 2 weeks, the same parents once again rated their children on DCDQ’07-K.Statistical analysis for reliability, construct validity, and Rasch diagnostics (person and item reliability, fit statistics, category functioning of scores and person-item map) were conducted.

Results: Internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha>0.8), parallel form test-retest reliability (ICC=0.95 at 95% CI) and floor and ceiling were acceptable. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed three factors accounting for total variance of 59.29% and 58.80% in DCDQ’07-IE and DCDQ’07-K respectively. Item reliability (<0.8) and separation index (<2) were poor in both versions. Category functioning was effective. Person-item map represented inconsistency in spread of items in difficulty and person’s abilities. Qualitative review of the parents revealed that they were unfamiliar with the performance of their children on sports-related items and hence scored their child on the basis of conjecture.

Conclusion: Translation into Kannada was fairly successful. Although traditional tool properties produced satisfactory results, Rasch analysis demonstrated problems with the tool. This could be due to cultural reasons. Hence DCDQ’07-K should be interpreted with caution when rated by parents in the local context.