Jdmse vol 1 no 1 jan 2011 by Vivekananda University, Coimbatore Campus

ISSN 2229-5143

JOURNAL OF DISABILITY MANAGEMENT AND SPECIAL EDUCATION

FACULTY OF DISABILITY MANAGEMENT AND SPECIAL EDUCATION

JOURNAL OF DISABILITY MANAGEMENT AND SPECIAL EDUCATION ISSN : 2229-5143 Volume1

Number 1

January 2011

CONTENTS Editorial board

iii

Instruction to authors

Message from Vice Chancellor

Message from Administrative Head

vii

Editorial

vii

Role of Research in the Professional Lives of the Master Trainers in Special Education: Dr. Asmita Huddar Mental Health Status of Teachers Working in Special Schools for Children with Special Needs: Dr. K.Balabaskar

1-8 9-20

Attitude of Parents towards Their Children with Mental retardation: Dr.P.S. Sukumaran and Maya. P. M.

21-27

Efficacy of Adapted Aids on Learning Science for Students with Visual Impairment at 8th Standard Level: J.B. Dheesha and M. Annakodi

28-33

A Study of Early Childhood Care and Education of Children with Hearing Impairment in Anganwadi Centre: Abhishek Kr. Srivastava and Prof. R. Rangasayee Comparative Analysis of Responses Towards Various Stimuli Among Children with Mental Retardation and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Educational Setting: Rajiv Ranjan Effect of Self-Directed IEP on Development of Self Determination in Special Employees with Mild Mental Retardation: Hemant Keshwal and Dr. A. T. Thressiakutty

34-40

41-55

56-69

Significance of Outdoor Activities in Educating Persons with Deafblindness: B.Leelavathi, Vijayalakshimi, and D.S.A.Regan

70-74

A Man Without Sight, But With Vision: Rohnika Sharma and Saumya Chandra

75-76

Disability - Bane or Boon: A Spiritual Perspective: Swami Anuragananda

77-84

Book Reviews

85-88

Forth coming events: National Seminar on Mental Retardation

89-90

JOURNAL OF DISABILITY MANAGEMENT AND SPECIAL EDUCATION Journal of Disability Management and Special Education (JODMSE) is a bi-annual publication of the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Univeristy (RKMVU). The journal publishes original articles in the area of Disability Management and Special Education. It includes research articles, book reviews, success stories of persons with disability, news about conferences, letters to the editors and forthcoming events. The purpose is to promote research in the area of disability rehabilitation. The subscription rates are given below: Single copy: ` 100/-

One year : ` 200/-

Three years: ` 500/-

Mode of payment: Payment should be made by cheque or Demand Draft drawn in favour of the “Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University” payable at Coimbatore FORM: IV Statement about ownership and other particulars about Journal of Disability Management and Special Education

1. Place of Publication 2. Periodicity of Publication 3. Printer’s Name Nationality Address

: : : : :

Coimbatore Bi-annual Vidyalaya Printing Press Indian Ramakrishna Vidyalaya Printing Press, SRKV Post, Periyanaickenpalayam, Coimbatore 641 020 4. Chief Editor’s and Publisher’s Name : Dr. A.T.Thressiakutty Nationality : Indian Address Ramakrishna Mission Vivekanada University, Faculty of Disability Management and Special Education, SRKV Post, Periyanaickenpalayam, Coimbatore 641 020 Tel: 0422 2697529, Mobile: 76392 66343 5. Name and addresses of Individuals & : Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, shareholders holding morethan 1% of Faculty of Disability Management and the total capital Special Education, SRKV Post, Periyanaickenpalayam, Coimbatore 641 020 Tel: 0422 2697529 e-mail: jodmse@gmail.com, fdmedu@gmail.com I, Dr. A.T. Thressiakutty, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. ii

JOURNAL OF DISABILITY MANAGEMENT AND SPECIAL EDUCATION ISSN : 2229-5143 Volume 1

Number 1

January 2011

EDITORIAL BOARD CHIEF ADVISOR Swami Atmapriyananda Vice-chancellor, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University

ADVISORS Swami Atmaramananda Administrative Head, FDMSE, RKMVU

Swami Anuragananda Asst. Administrative Head, FDMSE, RKMVU, Coimbatore

Dr. M. Chandramani Dean, FDMSE, RKMVU, Coimbatore

CHIEF EDITOR Dr. A.T. Thressiakutty Professor, FDMSE, RKMVU, Coimbatore

EDITOR Abhishek Kumar Srivastava Asst. Professor, RKMVU, FDMSE, Coimbatore

EXPERT MEMBERS Dr. Jayanthi Narayan

Dr. N. Muthaiah

Former Deputy Director, NIMH, Secunderabad

Principal, College of Education, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore

Dr. Asmita Huddar Principal, Hashu Advani College of Special Education, Mumbai

Dr. S. Venkatesan

Sri N. Narendiran

Ms. M. Annakodi

Professor, Clinical Psychology, AIISH, Mysore

Asst. Professor, FDMSE, RKMVU, Coimbatore

Audiologist & Speech Pathologist

iii

Instructions for Author(s) The chief editor invites original, scholarly articles and research papers within the aim and scope of the journal, that have not been published previously or submitted elsewhere, and that are not under review for another publication in any medium (e.g. printed journal, conference proceedings, electronic or optical medium) should be submitted to the Chief Editor, Journal of Disability Management and Special Education (JODMSE). A declaration by the author(s) that the paper(s) has/have not been sent elsewhere for publication/presentation is also required. Copyright clearance for material used in the article should be obtained by the author(s). It will be assumed that submission of the article to this journal implies that all the foregoing conditions are applicable. All articles and correspondence related to contribution should be addressed to the Chief Editor, JODMSE on the following e-mail: jodmse@gmail.com

the purpose of the study, the methods followed, main findings (with specific data and their statistical significance if possible), and the major conclusions. Main body of the text: Articles must be concise and usually follow the following word limitations: 1 Research Papers (3000-5000 words normally, 6000-8000 words in exceptional cases) 2 Short communication (1000 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3000 words) on new ideas/new areas work/ innovation/ action research/ ongoing investigations/ conference and seminar and work shop outcomes. 3 Book reviews (1000-2000 words) Organization of the text: The general organization of research papers should be as follows: 1. Introduction should include important review of relevant studies which leads to the need, scope and objectives of the study. 2. Methodology should include sampling techniques, tool(s)/tool development and details of validation, data collection procedure and scheme of data analysis. 3. Results and discussion. 4. Conclusion. 5. Appendices may be used to amplify details where appropriate. Tables: Tables/figures should be typed at their apt position in the text. There should not be duplication of information by giving tables as well as graphs. Footnotes: Footnotes to the text should be avoided. References: References should be indicated in the text by giving the name of author(s) with the year of publication in parentheses. References should be alphabetically listed at the end of the paper. References should also be in tune with APA style.

Copyright: The authors are responsible for copyright clearance for any part of the contents of their articles. The opinions expressed in the articles of this journal are those of the authors, and do not reflect the objectives or opinion of RKMVU, FDMSE. Peer review: All Contributions submitted will be subjected to peer review. Format: The whole text manuscript must be typed in double space on one side A4 paper (including references) and should have oneinch margin at three sides and wide margin to the left side of the text. Every page should be numbered correctly including the title page. The article should confirm to APA style. Soft copy of the article should be attached and submitted to the above-mentioned e-mail. Title page: This should contain the title of the manuscript, the name of the author and at the bottom the address for correspondence including email ID, the number of authors should not exceed three. Abstract: The second page should contain an Abstract of not more than 150 words, stating iv

Message from Vice Chancellor It is a matter of joy and gratification that the Faculty of 'Disability Management and Special Education (DMSE)' of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University is launching a journal in this specialized field. This University, envisioned by Swami Vivekananda himself, began its journey in July 2005 with this Faculty of DMSE as its very first Faculty at the Faculty Centre housed at the International Human Resource Development Centre for the Disabled which is a Unit of the huge educational complex of Ramakrishna Mission called Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. After successfully running for nearly two decades, this Centre became part of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, an institution declared deemed to be University by a Government of India Notification in January 2005. From July 2005, teacher training courses at the Bachelors and Masters levels, B.Ed., M.Ed., began and research programmes at the M.Phil. and Ph.D. levels were added later. After a couple of years, another unique and specialized sister Faculty in rehabilitation was added, namely, Faculty of General & Adapted Physical Education and Yoga, which began to offer courses at the Bachelors and Masters levels in Physical Education, research programmes at the M.Phil. and Ph.D. levels in General & Adapted Physical Education, at the Diploma level coaching for Special Olympics, fitness and yoga, physical education, and so on. The Expert Committees constituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development as well as University Grants Commission, New Delhi, were highly appreciative of these Faculties which were not only unique in character, but also served to fulfil a great national need in the specialized area of rehabilitation, for Universities in India scarcely pay much attention to this area in which there is a woeful dearth of teachers. One of the most important roles of any University is to create new knowledge apart from dissemination of existing knowledge through teaching and training, both in the classroom as well as in the fields and laboratories, so that knowledge becomes a transforming force in society. It is therefore appropriate that the Faculty of DMSE is launching a research journal in the field of DMSE. We are delighted that there has already been an overwhelming response from the academic community-teachers, scholars, researchers and students-who would now have a platform to disseminate and circulate the new knowledge that they have been able to create through research and innovations. We hope and pray that this journal will attain to great heights of excellence, by always keeping before its vision the international benchmarks required of a research journal and meticulously adhering to these standards.

Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Head Office at Belur Math 31 January 2011

Swami Atmapriyananda Vice Chancellor

Message from Administrative Head To all the staff of the faculty and respected authors, We are so glad that you all have given an excellent tangible form to our longstanding dream. We convey our earnest regards and congratulations to you all. Our special good wishes to the eminent experts for their articles which have imparted a high value to this maiden venture of the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University through its off-campus Faculty of Disability Management and Special Education, Coimbatore. This journal brings us closer to being what a university should be in terms of professionalism. We unstintedly wish you achieve greater levels and give a boost to the efforts being made in the country to tackle this pervasive problem of disability. May God bless you,

Swami Atmaramananda Administrative Head, RKMVU-FDMSE



From the Desk of Chief Editor First of all, let us examine whether the objective of the journal and the contents of the first issue are matching and convey the messages through research outcomes discussed in detail and concluded briefly in every article included in the volume: 1 book:1 (2011) of the Journal of Disability Management and Special Education(JODMSE). The very first article titled "Role of research in the professional lives of the master trainers in special education" effectively brought out the specific objective of JODMSE. On reviewing the role of research by the author in the current professional activities of the master trainers in special education, it was found that research is not at all part of the professional careers as they stand today. The author continues to state that the master trainers have yet to see the potentials of the missing link between theoretically learnt research methodology and routine professional issues and concerns. Yes, JODMSE is searching the missing link by encouraging the young aspiring professionals in the area of Disability Management and Special Education to synchronize their research with their professional day to day activities. vii

As soon as "call for research articles" was sent to the professionals in November 2010, one would really appreciate the overwhelming responses of the professionals. Research articles, books and documentary films for review were received for more than 2 journals; out of which 8 research papers were peer reviewed and included in this first issue. It reveals the need of research journals and encouragement with reinforcement by publishing their efforts are the basic needs to promote research in the field of Disability Management and Special Education. Definitely the remaining articles will find place in the forthcoming issues of JODMSE. The contents of this issue include 8 original research articles covering specific categories of disabilities such as Hearing Impairment, Visual Impairment, Intellectual Disability, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Deafblindness in addition to the general research articles dealing with role of research, mental health of special teachers and attitudes of parents. Referring to book reviews, the readers can find information on two new books authored by Prof.S. Venkatesan on learning problems in primary school children and the latest practices in Stem Cell Therapy in Neurological Disorders by Dr. Alok Sharma and Dr. Nandini Gokulchandran. The first issue of JODMSE also contains the messages of our advisors, Swami Atmapriyananda, Vice Chancellor and Swami Atmaramananda, Administrative Head, RKMVU. The last article in this issue â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Disability: bane or boonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; by Swami Anuragananda opens a new dimension of research and searches another missing link, the spiritual perspective, which is to be continued in the forthcoming issues. The Editorial Board requests the professionals to continue to send articles and the readers for their valuable suggestions to improve the quality of our new beginning. On behalf of the dedicated big family of Ramakrishna Mission, With gratitude to all those who supported to bring out this maiden issue,

A.T. Thressiakutty, PhD Chief Editor, JODMSE

viii

Vol. 1. No. 1 January 2011

Journal of Disability Management and Special Education ISSN: 2229-5143

Role of Research in the Professional Lives of the Master Trainers in Special Education *Asmita Huddar

Abstract Researching is one of the processes to obtain answers, to seek solutions and to uncover the truth, application of which leads to professional development and growth. The prime goal of the field of special education is to identify, apply and improve strategies and policies that lead to betterment and empowerment of qualities of lives of individuals with disabilities. Research undertaken in the field is one of the prerequisites of the success of the field in achieving its set goals. Are the future generation master trainers (engaged in manpower development today) ready to use researching as a tool to bring about desirable changes? Are they currently involved in researching activities which will bear fruits tomorrow? Current survey seeks the responses of young special educators to these questions. 41 participants who responded to an e survey indicate satisfactory level on readiness parameter. However, in terms of actual researching as a part of their current professional activities, there is a great scope for improvement. It appears that these master trainers have to run extra miles to fill up the existing gaps among theory, practice and research. The current special education scenario needs to identify and create many more avenues and opportunities for research so that evidence based practices become a tradition in Indian special education scenario. Indeed a long way to go for the special educators' generation next. Key terms: Master trainers, Researching readiness and Researching activities

Introduction Researching is one of the processes to obtain answers, to seek solutions and to uncover the truth. It is used by man for centuries. Over a period of time, man has understood and mastered the grammar of researching quite well. In fact, aptitude for and experience in researching have led to progress and development in almost all the professions of the modern society. Research has come to be known as a baseline activity that intends to bring about change - the change that is

intentionally brought about and is in desirable direction. Globally, special education has evolved its theory and practice through this tried and tested method called research. Indian scenario related to research in special education, however needs some serious attention. Indian research into special education has a great scope for improvement in several areas like: ď ˇ

Indian contribution to global theory;

ď ˇ

Use of research for classroom practices in India;

*Principal, Hashu Advani College of Special Education, email: hac_ccym@yahoo.co.in, asmitahuddar1@yahoo.com, Website: www.hacse.org.in

Huddar / Role of Research in the Professional Lives



Attitude of looking at research as a tool to bring about desirable change;



Number of articles, journals, reports publishe d which share resea rch conclusions;



Training young professionals for attitude, skills and theoretical base required for research;



Evolving rese arch as a fullt ime professional activity for the special educators.

development of the field and more importantly, their own readiness to increase the scope of researching in the field of special education. Objectives: A) To review the readiness of young master trainers currently active in the field of special education to take up independent research activities in order to bring about change. To achieve this objective following research questions are framed.

Due to this often claimed and generally discussed not-so-satisfactory situation in research into special education in India; the obvious links among theory, research and practice are considerably week. The potentials of research activity to bring about changes rem ain t o be underestim ated and underexplored in the field of special education in India.

A1: Did the research participants enjoy their first supervised research experience which would motivat e the m for furt her researching? A2: Do these research participants find themselves to be capable of carrying out independent research activities? A3: Did they share their research conclusions with fellow professionals in the form of articles or report publications?

Wit h the backdrop of t he above mentioned discussion the need is felt to see whether the above described picture is going to change in near future or not. Paying less attention to research, and its role in professional practices, if the researcher is allowed to say so; is the mistake that earlier generation of special educators could not help but commit. It is time to ask: Are the future generation special educators geared up to make research as an essential baseline for their professional activities?

B) To review the current professional activities of these young master trainers in terms of the role of research among the various professional activities. To achieve this objective following research questions are framed. B1: Did the research participants apply any of their research conclusions in their current professional activities?

Triggered by this question, the present survey is carried out which intends to explore the younger special education professionals' take on what research is, what role it plays in professional developme nt as well as

B2: Were the research participants involved in any of the research activities after their first researching experience?

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community. Therefore the parameter whether the earlier research was published or not is taken to indicate the researching readiness of the participant.

B3: Do the research participants look at research as tool to either problem solving or bring about change or to improve current practices? Do they link the research activity with evidence based reflective professional practices?

Current professional activity: Most of the research participants are currently working in teacher education colleges in special education. The current professional activities refer to all the activities that they undertake as part of their jobs. It also includes the professional activities they choose to undertake after their office hours. The objective of the study is to find out whether formal research is part of these activities or not.

Operational definitions: Research Participants: Research participants refer to the subjects of the survey who willingly participated in the survey by responding to the questionnaire. Research experience: The term refers to the master level supervised research undertaken by the participants as a part fulfillment of their M. Ed in special education.

Methodology

Readiness for researching: This term is made measurable in the present study with following three aspects: i)

ii)

Research design is survey type whereby responses of the research participants are collected through a questionnaire specially designed for the present research. Sampling used is non random convenient type.

The research participants having being enjoyed the earlier (and almost only) research experience which would motivate them to undertake more researches in future.

Research tool: Research tool used here is a questionnaire with 6 items out of which 5 questions are of quantitative type (multiple choice questions) and 1 item is of qualitative type (open ended, 'complete the sentence' question). Three questions in the survey are designed for reviewing readiness of the participants for future research activities and the other three questions are for reviewing their research related current professional activities. A draft tool was prepared with 10 items. Face validity of the draft tool is measured which led to selection of 6 most appropriate items out of these 10 items.

The perception of the research participants about their own capacity / skills related to research methodology which would help them carry out research independently.

iii) Whether or not the said research is published in the form of article or report. This is important because publication indicates (to an extent), the relevance and quality of the research project undertaken. Also it indicates the researcher's urge to share the conclusions with the professional community. Moreover, research projects are meant to be complete only when the conclusions are shared with the relevant

Data Collection: Questionnaires were e mailed to around 57 participants out of which 41 responded before the last date. 3

Huddar / Role of Research in the Professional Lives

Par ticipant participants:

  

prof ile:



Rese arch

Are special educators currently working as master trainers (38 out of 41 participants are currently working in teacher education colleges);

Know internet technology; Have completed M. Ed in special education (HI or VI or MR); Are from the age group 25 to 40 and have experience for more than a year. Scheme of analysis: Data analysis is carried out in two parts as indicated below: Table 1: Scheme of Analysis: # 1

Variable

Items in the Marking scheme questionnaire

Researching readiness (Item # 1, 2 and 3)

Yes=1 3

For the second variable, the frequency occurrences of the 41 responses are indicated with the help of the pie diagrams for each of the items. The responses to open ended question (item # 6 in the questionnaire) are categorized into three types: Theoretically learnt responses (learnt definitions, bookish indicators which are given in the form of reality announcing statements), generic glorifying responses (non specific statements which are true but are generic in nature like research is important, it is the backbone / future of special education, essential activity etc) and positive application oriented responses (specific and first person responses whereby application of research in bringing about change, improving current practices / standards or solving real life problems, introducing evidence based practices etc are indicated). Two experts including the researcher herself categorized the responses of the participants into the three types. Inter expert reliability is found to be good.

No=0 2 Research in current Frequency of occurrence of Professional activities each response in percentage (Item # 4, 5 and 6)

For the first variable the mode of the scores of the participants is presented which is interpreted in the following way: Each of the 41 participants who responded to these three items could get either 3 marks (for 3 'yes' responses), 2 marks (for 2 'yes' responses), 1 mark (for 1 'yes' response) or a 0 mark (for 0 'yes' responses). If the most frequently occurring score is 3 then researching readiness of the participants is good; if it is 2 then researching readiness is satisfactory, if it is 1 then the researching readiness is poor; and if it is found to be 0 then the researching readiness of the participating master trainers would be interpreted to be very poor. 4

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Results and discussion

only 2 of the 41 have published their researches (article or research report). This is rather disspointing since sharing the research conclusion is the last and vital step of research activity. Without completing this last step conducting the research per se means nothing. Publication of research also speaks for its quality and hence more number of 'yes' responses were expected for this item. If the participants did enjoy the researching and did learn the research grammar adequately; why didn't they feel the need to publish the outcome - is the question that needs further exploration. Inadequate publishing avenues could be one of the reasons. But more importantly, it is also thought that if research and publishing research are considered two different skills, the master level syllabi in Indian special education are quite weak on account of developing skills in writing / publishing research outcome.

Researching Readiness: The first three items in the questionnaire aimed at measuring the readiness of the participants to take up independent research projects as one of their professional activities. One of the central tendency measurement that is, mode is used here to indicate that 2 is the most frequently occurring score obtained by the participants. Out of the 41 responses, 1 participant scored 3 marks; 34 participants scored 2 marks; 4 participants scored 1 mark; 1 participant scored 0 mark (1 participant's responses were incomplete). As per the scheme of interpretat ion given in the methodology section, this means that the researching readiness of the participants is of satisfactory level. It is interesting to know that almost all the participants indicated 'yes' to the questions whether they enjoyed the M Ed level research and whether they find themselves ready to take up independent research project. However,

Current professional activities and role of researching: This variable is also made measurable using three items in the survey; out of which one is an open ended

question. The responses of the 41 participants are item-wise presented through 3 pie diagrams. Many Times, Many Times, 1 1 Some Some Times, Times, 7 7

Many Times Some Times Never

Never, 33

Applying own research conclusions in real life professional activities: Item # 4 in the survey sought the responses about whether or not the participants get an opportunity to apply their own research conclusions in their later

taken up careers as master trainers. Following are the frequency occurrences of the three responses. Pie diagram #1: Application of research conclusions 5

Huddar / Role of Research in the Professional Lives

education programs are run; leaving less scope for experiments and going beyond given syllabi. In both the cases, the conclusions are disappointing to the field.

This suggests that most of the master trainers today do not get the opportunity to link their own research conclusions with their professional activities. This could be because their research (which they carried out as M Ed students) was not into areas related to teacher education. This needs discussion since the objective of conducting M Ed is to create the task force of master trainers. Hence, the research topics of most of the M Ed candidates should revolve around issues and concerns related to teacher education (applicable in B Ed / D Ed colleges). Secondly, this could be due to the set pattern in which the teacher

Undertaking research after the M Ed research: The current syllabi (whether regular or through distance mode) of M Ed in special education (HI, VI, MR, LD) acknowledge the role and importance of research in the professional development and hence adequate emphasis is given to training the students for future research activities in terms of theory,

practice and skill development. However, all this could be considered almost a waste of efforts if researching is not an important part of their routine professional activities in the teacher education colleges where they are currently working. Following pie diagram indicates the Yes, 2

responses to the question whether or not the participants undertook any research project after Yes their M Ed research. Pie diagram #2: Undertaking research project after the MNoEd research? No, 39

them researching avenues. Although, research funding and sponsorship schemes in special education are not plenty in India, they are not that rare that no master trainer could get himself / herself a research fellowship, sponsorship or a research grant. Perhaps, it is required that information about available research grants be made available to the colleges as well as the individuals seeking to undertake research. In the age of technology such information is readily available if one inclines to look for it.

As said earlier, research does not appear to be one of the prioritized activities of the teacher education colleges in special education. These colleges have appointed the master trainers who are ready to carry out research and have been specially trained for that. However, they are not given opportunity to apply their readiness into reality. It also appears that the individual participants have not adequately explored the research funding or sponsorship agencies whereby they do not have to depend on their colleges to provide

Also, the possibility of making research activity a compulsory activity for teacher education colleges through the existing monitoring system of institutional assessment can be explored. Teacher education colleges 6

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are globally considered to be the link points between theory and practice and they need to be empowered to play pro active role in determining evidence based practices in the field. Reflective practices at the teacher education colleges are the pre requisites of improving classroom practices. Such research

can empower the professional interactions between teacher education colleges and their practicing model schools. Insight into the role of research in professional lives: In the said survey, the question exploring the perception of the master

trainers about what research is and how they look at researching is an open ended one. The responses of the participants are classified into three types. Pie diagram # 3: Perception of role of research in professional lives Application Oriented Responses, 10

Theoretically Learnt Responses, 13

Theoretically Learnt Responses Generic Glorifying Responses, 8

Generic Glorifying Responses Application Oriented Responses

Conclusion The current survey explored the researching readiness of the master trainers working at various teacher education colleges. The readiness for researching when measured in terms of enjoying the first research experience, finding oneself capable of independent research and publishing the research outcome; appears to be satisfactory publishing the research being the weakest link. On reviewing the role of research in the current professional activities of these master trainers, it is found that research is not at all part of their professional careers as they stand today. It would be appropriate to state that the master trainers have yet to see the potentials of the missing link between theoretically learnt research methodology and routine professional issues and concerns. It is recommended that skill development on pragmatic sides of the

Considering that the application oriented responses were the desirable ones, the number of these responses rece ived from the participants appears to be quite low. Most of the participants have responded to this open ended question as if it is one of the questions in the examination. The number of non specific responses which labeled research to be important are also more in number. This could be interpreted as the participants having understood the role of research but not having rea lized its rele vance in t heir rout ine professional activities. It can be further added that they do not get to see models of research based changes in the professional practices and hence do not realize the wide scope of research in their professional lives.

Huddar / Role of Research in the Professional Lives

research activity such as obtaining grants, publishing papers can be emphasized during the master level courses in special education.

Ornstein, Allan .; Beha-Horenstein, Linda, S. and Paja k Edward F. (2003) Contemporary issues in Curriculum & Research A and B - New York.

Reference Harichandan, Dhane swar. (2007). Understanding Teaching Continuety and Change in Perspectives and Practices to Achieve Excellence in Teaching. National Seminar on Towards Excellence in Tea cher Educ ation, University of Mumbai. Unpublished proceedings

Savadatti, Arundhati. (2007). Teacher as a

Huges, A.G and Huges E.H. (2008). Learning and Teaching, Sonali Publication : New Delhi.

Singh Jyoti (2004). Education & Human

Reflective Practioner: Changing Role of Teacher Education. National Seminar on Towards

Exce llenc e

Teac her

Education, University of Mumbai. Unpublished proceedings. Resource Development. Deep and Deep Publication: New Delhi.

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Journal of Disability Management and Special Education ISSN: 2229-5143

Mental Health Status of Teachers Working in Special Schools for Children with Special Needs *K.Balabaskar

Abstract The study aims to investigate the mental health of teachers working in schools meant for children with physical handicap, mental retardation, hearing and visual impairment. The study constituted a total sample of 300 teachers. Each group comprised of 75 special educators. The tool used for the study was Mental Health Inventory. The statistical techniques, used for analyzing the data, were mean, SD, and ANOVA. It was also found among special educators a significant difference with respect to mental health status. 'Positive self evaluation' domain was found to be an important factor leading to good mental health status for special educators working with children for visual handicap, whereas special educators working with children with physical handicap, observed 'Environmental competences' as a significant factor. A good mental health status was identified among 30 + age group of special educators and with an experience of above 6 years. Similarly special educators with an income of above 6000 rupees showed good mental health status when compared to other income levels. The outcome of the present study might go a long way in spelling out the need for good mental health condition, satisfaction towards their profession and decreased occupational stress. Key terms: Mental health, Teachers of special schools, Children with special needs

Introduction

Good health is essential for teachers. It is a well-established fact that mentally healthy people are well and constructively disposed towards their occupations and professions. With time the role and functions of teachers working in special school have undergone metamorphosis. The special educators function in various capacities such as being a facilitator of learning experiences, planner, classroom manager, or therapist. Thus the contribution made by the special educator becomes all the more significant in the multidisciplinary team and gained prominence in the field of special education.

Mental health is one of the crucial indicators which determines better quality of services provided by teachers as well as pivotal fac tors in personal e ffec tiveness and organizational success. The entire structure of education becomes unsteady if the teacher is weak and ineffective. A teacher is the single most important factor in the success of a pupil and thereby the entire society. Recognizing the importance of teacher, the National Policy on Education (1986) has rightly remarked: "No system of education can rise above the level of its teachers."

Lecturer in Adult Independent Living, National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities, ECR, Kovalam Post, Chennai, Tamilnadu-603112, Email id: baskarcherry@gmail.com

Balabaskar / Mental Health of teachers working in Special Schools

Me ntal hea lth c an be def ined as adjustment of an individual to themselves and the world at large with a maximum of effectiveness, satisfaction, cheerfulness and socially considerate behavior and ability effacing and accepting the realities of life. According to Menninger (1945) "Mental health is the adjustment of human beings to the world and to each other with a maximum of effectiveness and happiness". The World Health Organization (1984) defined health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Good mental health for teachers is essential for their ever-increasing professional growth as well as for creating a good emotional climate in the school (Saeid Farahbakhsh, 2004). A teacher with poor mental health not only tends to incapacitate himself for the performance of his multifarious duties in the school but also creates difficulties and problems for his subordinates. In addition, the attitude of society in general is negative towards both students with disabilities (Alghazo et al., 2003) and the profession of special education; therefore, students who master this field may not be happy with their work. The special educators working in special school face a lot of stress in the job situation, which may affect their psychological well-being. Oliver (2005) in his study reported significant negative emotional reactions to challenging behaviour in the course of their work, including fear, anxiety, anger, and depression. These emotional reactions play a key role in determining day-to-day behavioral responses of the staff and their mental health conditions to challenging behaviors. In a similar study Falck and Kilcoyne (1985) 10

reported special educators do show lower levels of subjective well being when compared with normal populations. Some of the special educators perceived themselves as failing to cope with their job, experienced more frequent symptoms of poor physical health and reported significantly poorer subjective well being. In light of the above review of literature, it was found that there is paucity of research with respect to psychologic al dimensions underlining different disability areas in which special educators function. Hence the present study is an endeavor to investigate the mental health status of special educators working for children with different disabilities in order to enhance the mental health, productivity and quality of services. Objectives of the study: i.

The study aims to explore the difference in mental health status of special educators working in special school for different disabilities so as to gain understanding of the factors responsible for difference within each group.

ii.

The study compares the mental health status of special educators with respect to demographic variables such as age, years of experience and varying income levels.

Hypotheses: i.

There would be no significant difference in various dimensions of mental health status among four categories of special educators working for children with specific disabilities.

ii.

With respect to mental health status there would be no significant difference among different age groups of special educators working for children with specific disabilities.

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iii. There would be no significant difference among special educators working for children with specific disabilities in mental health status with respect to varying years of experience. iv.

Varying income levels would cause no significant difference for special educators working for children with specific disabilities with respect to mental health status.

Methodology: This research on "mental health of special educators working in special schools for the children with mental retardation, hearing impairment, visual impairment and physical handicap" was carried out to examine the mental health condition of the special educators. The sample consisted of 300 teachers working in 4 different special schools meant for the children with mental retardation, hearing impairment, visual impairment and physical handicap. Special educators who have completed their professional diploma/degree course in their respective field, recognized by the Rehabilitation Council of India, New Delhi, were included in the study. The purposive sampling procedure was used to collect the sample. The entire sample was selected from special schools located in coastal region of Andhra Pradesh. Out of the total sample, 156 (52%) were female teachers and 144 (48%) were male teachers. The age of teachers ranged from 21 years to 44 years. The work experience of the sample ranged from 2 years to 14 years. Out of the total sample, 84 (27%) teachers had 12 years of experience, 131(44 %) teachers had 3-5 years of experience and 85 (29%) teachers had above 6 years of experience.

The income of the subjects ranges from Rs.3000 to Rs.6000 with an average income of Rs.7000/-. Out of the total sample, 105 (35%) teachers had an income below Rs.3000/ -, 137 (46 %) teachers with an income between Rs.3000 toRs.6000/- and 58 (19 %) teachers with an income above Rs.6000/-. Table 1: Shows the demographic details of sample (Table 1 shows in next page) Research tools: Personal Data Sheet and Mental Health Inventory (MHI) developed and standardized by Srivatava and Jadgish (1984) were used for the study. The mental health inventory consists of 54 items with 22 positive and 32 negative items. The six dimensions of mental health inventory are. 1. Positive self-evaluation, 2. Perception of reality, 3. Integration of personality, 4. Autonomy, 5. Group oriented attitudes and 6. Environmental competence Procedure: The main study was undertaken in two phases in order to minimize the monotony among the respondents. In the first phase, the personal data sheet was administered to the selected sample. In the second phase Mental Health Inventory was given to the subjects. The researcher individually contacted special educators during their working hours by prior appointment from the school authorities. The objectives of the study were clearly explained. After establishing sufficient rapport the teachers were requested to read carefully the structured instructions provided for answering. The data was analyzed by using appropriate statistical techniques. The statistical techniques which we used for analyzing the 11

Balabaskar / Mental Health of teachers working in Special Schools

Table 1: Shows the demographic details of sample age S. Category of No teachers 1

Special teachers of children with mental retardation Special teachers of children with hearing impairment Special teachers of children with visual impairment

< 25

25-30 30+

years of experience <2 3-5 6+

varying income groups < 3000 - 6000 3000

6000

Special teachers of children with physical handicap

Total

300 33

177

131

105

137

Grand total

300

data were mean, SDs and ANOVA (F-test). SPSS software (version 8.0) was used for the statistical analysis of the data.

Section 1: Types of special educators and different domains of mental health inventory.

Results and discussion

The present study investigated the various domains of mental health inventory. By studying the impact of varying domains of mental health status, we can identify the group of special educators who experience good mental health status and factors contributing to good environment.

Teaching is a vocation and seen as a highly stressful profession. This is perceived to occur because of the powerful interpersonal demands and expectations of the job. Special educators play an imperative role in the progress of children with special needs. Healthy, satisfied and less stressed educators contribute effectively to the development of the child. There are many personal and environmental factors that affect the special educators' growth, which automatically lead to poor mental health conditions. Findings of the study are tabulated and discussed in the ensuring paragraphs under 2 sections. 12

Hypothesis: 1 There would be no significant difference in various dimensions of mental health status among four categories of special educators working for children with specific disabilities. Table 2. shows comparison of categories of special educators on different domains of mental health status

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Table 2. shows comparison of categories of special educators on different domains of mental health status Domains

types of special educators

mean

1. Positive self

Special teachers of children

28.6

3.62

27.6

3.69

29.9

3.47

29.0

3.91

23.6

3.77

23.4

3.33

24.1

3.66

23.9

3.61

32.8

4.63

31.9

4.66

33.5

3.00

32.6

3.88

17.5

2.45

17.1

2.61

with visual impairment

17.8

2.46

Special teachers of the children with physical handicap

17.0

2.99

evaluation

5.09 0.01

with mental retardation Special teachers of the children with hearing impairment Special teachers of the children with visual impairment Special teachers of the children with physical handicap

2. Perception

Special teachers of the children with Mental retardation

.572

2.13

1.54

Special teachers of the children with hearing impairment Special teachers of the children with isual impairment Special teachers of the children with physical handicap 3. Integration of Personality

Special teachers of the children with Mental retardation Special teachers of the children with hearing impairment Special teachers of the children with visual impairment Special teachers of the children with physical handicap

4.Autonomy

Special teachers of the children with Mental retardation Special teachers of the children with hearing impairment Special teachers of the children

Balabaskar / Mental Health of teachers working in Special Schools

5. Group oriented attitudes

Special teachers of the children with Mental retardation

27.0

4.41

26.3

3.85

27.9

3.88

26.5

4.33

24.0

3.19

24.6

3.07

24.9

2.95

physical handicap

25.7

3.33

Total

300

154.5

16.08

2.10

3.60

.0.05

2.69

0.05

Special teachers of the children with hearing impairment Special teachers of the children with visual impairment Special teachers of the children with physical handicap 6.Environmental Competences

Table 2 shows comparisons among special educators working with children for different disabilities with regard to their mental health status. Out of 6 domains, statistically significant difference among the groups is seen for 2 domains. The obtained mean value and Standard Deviation for 300 special educators with respect to mental health status was found to be 154. 5 and 2.69 respectively. The obtained F-value is 2.69 which is significant at .05 levels. (1) A highly significant difference is seen with respect to "positive self evaluation" domain of special educators with respect to mental health status. The obtained mean scores were found to be highest for special educators working with the groups 14

of visual impairm ent and physical handicap (29.9 & 29.0) followed by mental retardation (28.6) and hearing impairment (27.67) respectively. The obtained F- value is 5.09 and highly significant at 0.01 level of significance. "Positive self evaluation" domain was showed as an important factor leading to good mental health status for special educators working with the children with visual impairment. Thus the obtained results could be due to the feedback directly received by special educators working with groups of children with visual and physical handicap. These outcomes in turn act as reinforcement to increase the level of positive self-evaluation of special educators.

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(2) With regard to "perception of reality" high mean score was seen for special educators working with the group of visual impairment whereas the mean scores for special educators working with the groups of children with mental retardation, hearing and physical handicap were found as 23.6, 23.4 and 23.9. The standard deviations of these groups were 3.77, 3.33, 3.66 and 3.61 respectively. The Fvalue computed was .572 which indicates no statistical difference among special educators. (3) The mean scores of these groups on "integration of personality" domain was found to be highest for special educators working with the group of children with visual impairment (33.5), followed by the groups of mental retardation, physical handicap (32.8 & 32.6) and hearing impairment (31.9) respectively. The standard deviations of these four groups were 4.63, 4. 66, 3.00 and 3.88 respectively. The obtained F-value is 2.13 which is not statistically significant. (4) Calculated mean scores for "autonomy" domain of special educators working with children with mental retardation, hearing impairment, visual impairment and physical handicap were found to be same for all the four groups respectively. The obtained F-value of 1.54 is statistically insignificant. This indicates the autonomy domain is more or less the same for all groups of special educators. (5) In relation to the domain "group oriented attitudes", the mean scores of special 15

educators were found to be the highest for the groups of teachers of children with mental retardation and visual impairment (27.0 & 27.9) followed by physical

handicap

and

hearing

impairment (26.59 & 26.33) respectively. The F-value computed is 2.10 which indicates no statistically significant difference among the groups. (6) The calc ulate d me an sc ores for "environmental competence" domain was found to be 24.0 for special educators working for the group of children with mental retardation, followed by 24.6 for special educators working for the group of children with hearing impairment, 24.9 for special educators working for the group of children with the visual impairment and 25.7 for special educators working for the group of children with physical handicap. Special educators working for the group of children with physical handicap observed "Environmental competencies" as a significant factor for good mental health status. The computed F value is found to be 3.60. It is evident that the obtained F-Value among special educators is higher than the table value 2.60 and hence highly significant at 0.05. These findings coincide with the result of Olive and Williams (2005) on stress experienced by special education teachers as they fell heavy emotional toll in exhausting and stressful situation, which affect the personal health and family life.

Balabaskar / Mental Health of teachers working in Special Schools

To sum up, from the above table 2 it is evident; out of 6 domains a significant difference is seen in 2 domains (positive self evaluation and environmental competence). It indicates that special educators do differ with respect to different domains of mental health status. Hence, Hypotheses 1, which states that with respect to different domains of mental health status there would be no significant difference among special educators working with children with specific disabilities, is rejected. A cursory look at the results of the present study shows a significant difference in level of mental health status among special educators working with children with different disabilities. Section 11: Investigate the mental health status of special educators with respect to demographic variables In relation to Age: Mental health status occupies a significant place in the the professional life of special educators working with children with specific disabilities. By studying the impact of varying age groups of special educators on mental health status, we can identify the group of special educators who are more prone to poor mental health status. For studying the effect of varying age groups of special educators on the above said variables, the sample was divided into three groups. Hypothesis: 2 With respect to mental health status there would be no significant difference among different age groups of special educators working for children with specific disabilities. 16

Table 3 shows mean score and S.D of special educators' mental health status with respect to varying age groups. Varying Age groups

Mean

S.D

<25 Years

156.5

18.11

25-30 Years

177 151.4

15.20

30+ Years

160.0

15.56

Total

300 154.5

16.08

9.42 0.01

F-value is 9.42, P< 0.01 ** The above table 3 depicts varying age groups (< 25 yrs, 25-30 yrs, 30 + yrs) of special educators working for children with specific disabilities on mental health status. The obtained mean scores (M) was found to be highest for special educators in the age group of 30+ years (160.0), followed by below 25 years age group (156.5) and 25-30 years age group (151.41) respectively. The computed F value for varying age groups of special educators with regard to mental health status was found to be 9.42. It is evident that the obtained F-Value among special educators was higher than the table value 4.00 and hence significant at 0 .01 level. The obtained mean score indicates that special educators in the age group of above 30 years experience good level of mental health status when compared to other groups. Hence it was concluded that there exists a significant relationship between varying age groups of special educators with respect to their mental health status. Therefore, Hypothesis 2, which states that with respect to mental health status there would be no significant difference on varying age groups of special educators

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working for children with specific disabilities, is rejected. These findings could have been due to the difference in the viewpoint of special educators according to their age. When special educators enter into an organization, they are highly motivated and spend more time in the organization. They experience increasing commitment, energetic and less prone to stress as their age increases by understanding the reality of work which leads to healthy living. Further the younger groups of special educators are not only less habituated to conventional practices and ways of work, but are constrained by other responsibilities. With reference to varying years of experience Hypothesis: 3 There would be no significant difference among special educators working for children with specific disabilities in mental health status with respect to varying years of experience. Table 4 shows mean S.D and F value of special educators' mental health status in relation to varying years of experience. Varying years of Experience <=2 Years experience 3-5 Years experience 6+ Years experience Total

Mean

S.D

151.8

15.77

131 154.1 85 157.9 300 154.5

15.68 3.20 0.05 16.58 16.08

F-value is .3.20, P < .05* Table 4 depicts the varying years of experience of special educators working for

children with specific disabilities with respect to mental health status. The computed F value for varying years of experience of special educators with regard to mental health status was found to be 3.20. It was evident that the calculated F-Value was higher than the table value 2.99 and hence significant at .05 level . The mean score obtained indicates that special educators with more than 6 years of experience had good mental health than compared to subjects between 3-5 years of experience and with more than 6 years of experience. The obtained result indicates that varying years of experience of special educators do differ on mental health status. Hence, Hypothesis 3, which states that there would be no significant difference in varying years of experience of special educators working for children with specific disabilities with respect to mental health status, is rejected. A look at the mean shows that mental health status of special educators increases with years of experience. The gained experience helps the special educators in framing realistic goals and strategies in their daily work. This could be an indication for better mental health conditions and work environment for special educators. Educators with less experience on the other hand are not able to set up good working conditions. Thus the difference in their work setting could have contributed towards the difference in mental health status of special educators. This finding is congruent with the results obtained by Glass (2001) that teachers who had the most teaching experience utilized positive teaching strategies and approaches more often than teachers with the least experience leading to good mental health conditions. 17

Balabaskar / Mental Health of teachers working in Special Schools

With reference to Income An esse ntial par t of any work is remuneration. With regard to special educators, income is a key aspect of their work. This in turn has a prevailing effect on mental health status of special educators. By studying the impact of varying income levels of special educators on mental health status, we can identify the groups of special educators who experience poor mental health conditions. For studying the effect of varying income levels on above variables, the sample was divided into three groups. Hypothesis: 4 Varying income levels would cause no significant difference for special educators working for childre n wit h specif ic disabilities with respect to mental health status. Table 5 shows mean S.D & F value of special educators' mental health status in relation to varying income levels. Varying Income levels

N Mean

S.D

< 3000 rupees income

105 152.2 16.21

3000-6000 rupees income >= 6000 rupees 58 159.1 17.33

Total

300 154.5 16.08

A close look at the above obtained mean score indicates that mental health status of special educators increases with the income levels. These results show that higher the income better the living conditions of special educators working for children with special needs, which automatically lead to good mental health Baskar (2010). Summary and conclusions

137 154.3 15.14 3.43 0.05

income

The computed F value for varying income levels of special educators with regard to mental health status was found to be 3.43. It is evident that the obtained F-Value is higher than the table value 2.99 and hence significant at .05 level. Significant difference was found between the 3 income groups of special educators on mental health status. Based on the mean scores it was found that special educators on above the 6000 rupees income group had good mental health status than the special educators of income between 3000 - 6000 rupees and less than 3000 rupees. The obtained result indicates that varying income levels of special educators do make a significant impact on their mental health status. Hence Hypothesis 4, which states that there would be no significant difference caused by varying income levels of special educators working for children with specific disabilities with respect to mental health status, is rejected.

The above table 5 shows the comparison of varying income levels among special educators with respect to mental health status. 18

The present study examined the mental health status among four categories of special educators. The study offered some interesting findings, which suggest the role of mental health status in providing better quality of services to children with special needs by special educators. Based upon the results obtained, the following conclusions are drawn:

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Journal of Disability Management and Special Education



Special educators working for children with visual impairment show good mental health status than other groups.

difficult for professionals to cope up with the increasing stress levels, which has an effect on job satisfaction and mental health. This study



Good mental health status is seen among 30 + age group of special educators.

would help a wide range of rehabilitation professionals to trim down their stress levels



Special educators with above 6 years of experience showed good mental health status.

and mange their conflicts in an effective and



Special educators with an income above Rs. 6000 showed good mental health status when compared to other income group. "Positive self evaluation" domain was shown as an important factor leading to good mental health status for special educators working for children with visual impairment. Special educators working for children wit h physical handicap obser ved "Environmenta l com petence" a s a significant factor for good mental health status.

Implications of the study With changing work environment and nee ds of childre n wit h special nee ds, organizations are finding it necessary to adapt to a more competitive and innovative work life. This task is not as easy as it may seem. Special schools need to develop core competencies like team work, resilience, achievement orientation and wide thinking in its teachers to create a healthy atmosphere. The corollaries of the present investigation pertinently affirm its merits and open the frontiers for further research as discussed under different heads:Implications for Professionals With competition engulfing the modern civilization, it is becoming more and more

collaborative manner for a healthy living. Implications effectiveness

f or

or ganizational

Organizational climate plays a vital role in the all round development of a worker. Many factors in the school directly or indirectly lead to healthy relationship among the staff members and organization itself. The present study helps the schools to devise strategies, to improve work performance, organizational commitment and job satisfaction levels of special educators working for children with special needs. Implications for academicians The present study helps in understanding the personality profile of special educators working for children with special needs, which would in turn help academicians to modify the present curriculum meant for special educators. This will enable them to enric h their professional competence. Implications for personal effectiveness In the age of declining commitment levels and electronic communications, the role of stress and healthy living are clearly herald. The pace of development had done more harm than good to the existing value system. Relationships have sweltered. Altruistic tendencies have tainted. Creative spirit has 19

Balabaskar / Mental Health of teachers working in Special Schools

declined leaving behind narrow minds, and mechanized existence.

professionals". Journal of School Health, 55(7), 258-61.

Further research on special educators can enable us to trace out "GOOD" special educators with sufficient knowledge and skill to cater to the educational, social and cultural needs of children with special needs. The outcome of the present study might go a long way in spelling out the need for good mental health condition, satisfaction towards their work and decreased occupational stress. Thus the feedback, about the results obtained, to the special educators would help them to improve their quality of life and enhance their professional competence. By understanding the emotional nature and personality makeup of special educators a lot can be done to perquisite up their personal efficacy.

Glass, C.S. (2001). "Factors influencing teaching strategies used with children who display attention deficit hyperactivity disorder characteristics". Education, 122,70-79.

References: Alghazo, E.M., Dodeen, H., & Algaryouti, I.A. (2003). "Attitudes of pre service teachers towards persons with disabilities: predictions for the success of inclusion", Coll Studies, 37, 515-552. Baskar.B.K.(2010). "Impact of occupational stress on special Educators working in spe cial schools" Disa bilit ies and Impairments, 24(1), 13-22. Falck, V.T., & Kilcoyne , M.E. (1985) "Occupational stress in special education: a c halle nge for school hea lth

Menninger, K.A. (1945). "The human mind". New York: Report. National Policy on Education (1986). "A program of Action Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development", Department of Education, New Delhi. Oliver, M.A., & Williams, E.E. (2005). "Teaching the Mentally Handicapped Child: Challenges teachers are facing". The International Journal of Special Education, 20(2), 45-52. Saeid, F.B. (2004). "Mental health of secondary school princ ipals in rela tion to occupational variables". Journal of psychological Research, 48(1), 5-10. WHO. (1984). "Psychosocial factors and health: Monitoring the psychosocial work environment and workers' health". Geneva: Author. York-Bar, J. (2005). "Special Educators in inclusive education programmes". Int ernat iona l Journal of inclusive education, 2(2), 193-215.

Vol. 1. No. 1 January 2011

Journal of Disability Management and Special Education ISSN: 2229-5143

Attitude of Parents towards Their Children with Mental retardation *P.S. Sukumaran & **Maya. P. M.

Abstract The present study is designed to identify the attitude of parents towards their children with mental retardation. An attitude scale was developed and standardized for collecting the relevant data on various aspects, namely, education, health, vocational training, socialization and future of their children with mental retardation. The parental attitude scale consists of 54 items of Likert type with a five point rating. The descriptive method of research was employed for the study. Parents of 100 children with mental retardation studying in five special schools of Kottayam district of Kerala state constitute the sample. Statistical techniques such as arithmetic mean, standard deviation, independent't' test and one way analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. The results reveal that parents have highly positive attitude towards their children with mental retardation. None of the socio demographic variables studied were found to be significantly influencing the parental attitude. Key terms: Parental attitude, Mental retardation

Introduction Mental retardation is a condition of exceptionality, which includes people whose intellectual and social abilities are significantly different from that of normal. The definition of mental retardation adopted by the American Association on Mental Retardation has evolved through a number of revisions and it states: "Intelle ctual disa bility is a disability characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. This disability originates before the age of 18" (AAIDD, 2008). From time immemorial family has played a crucial role in the development of a child.

Parents particularly play dominant role in shaping the personality of the individual. Although rearing practices may not be different in the case of special child vis-Ă -vis a normal child, yet the family undergoes hardships due to the condition. Normal children grow up to become independent where as the child with mental retardation continue to remain dependent upon parents. Parenting is a challenge because it requires an understanding of children as well as knowledge about their special needs and the ways and means of meeting these needs. It is the duty of parents to make them enable to live as independent as possible.

* Associate Professor in Special Education,School of Behavioural Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University,Priyadarsini Hills P.O.Kottayam - 686560

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The accomplishment of this is possible only when the parents have a positive attitude towards their children with mental retardation. The nature and intensity of parental attitude is very important in deciding the quality of training for their children. Furnham and Penred (1983) conducted a study to determine lay people's attitude towards mentally and physically disabled people. The results revealed consistent differences between attitude of people towards the physically as opposed to the mentally retarded, with the former being seen more positively than the latter. Similar results were obtained by the studies of Furnham and Gibbs (1984) on the attitude of school children towards the handicapped. A study conducted by Ramgopal and Rao (1994) shown that parents had a negative attitude towards the children with moderate mental retardation while Sukumaran et al (2006) found that parents in general have a highly favourable attitude towards education of their children with mental retardation. Seshadri et al (1983) administered parental attitude scales to 30 mothers of children with mental retardation and found that most of the mothers perceiving the retarded child as a burden. Results of the study conducted in Nigeria by Madu (2000) revealed that parents of deaf, blind and limb-deformed children had a more positive attitude towards their handicapped children than parents of the mentally retarded children. Kim (1986) conducted a comparative survey of anxiety in mothers of children with mental retardation in Tokyo and Seoul. Subjects' attitude toward their children was rejecting and over protective in both cities. Tokyo subjects were more 22

worried about educational institutions, while Seoul subjects worried more about having to admit their children were mentally retarded. Rangaswami (1995) examined the attitude of mothers towards their children with mental retardation with and without behaviour problems. Mothers of children with behaviour problems had higher negative attitude with respect to acceptance, education, future and hom e manageme nt. Sruthimol and Sukumaran (2008) conducted a study on overprotection of individuals with mental retardation. Findings of the study reveal that (i) the general trend of parental overprotection is of a moderate level, (ii) 24.49% of the sample of parents be longs to t he high le vel overprotection group, whereas 35.71% of the study group belongs to the low le vel overprotection group, (iii) parents of 'up to two children' group were found to be significantly more overprotective than that of the parents with 'more than three children' group and (iv) parental overprotection was found to increase with degree of mental retardation. Venkatesan (2007) states that it requires an amount of physical and psychological preparation for the individual caregiver as well as the whole family before planning and/or implementing home based training programmes for children with developmental disabilities. A number of welfare programmes have been envisaged for the individuals with mental retardation by the government and by voluntary organizations. However, as far as the families of these handicapped children are concerned they have been ignored. This is where the community as a whole needs to intervene. Sixty percent of the families were severely burdened with the adverse effects on the family's physical and psychological health.

Sukumaran & Maya / Attitude of Parents

Members of the family, frequently the mother, became depressed and weepy (Gathwala and Gupta, 2004). Sre edevi and Sukumaran (2010) conducted a study on facilitating factors of coping in mothers of children with mental retardation. They found that eagerness to learn about the child, cooperation from the child in his care, child devoid of behaviour and health problems, membership in parent teacher association and sending child to school as the major factors that facilitate coping. Parenting a child with mental retardation is not an easy job. Parenting is always influenced by the attitude of parents towards their children. In order to plan and organize appropriate special education and rehabilitation programmes, it is crucial to know the attitude of parents. This is more relevant in the case of the attitude of parents towards the education, health, vocational training, socialization and future of their children with mental retardation. This piece of investigation is an attempt in this direction. Objectives were: 1.

to find out the attitude of parents towards their children with mental retardation.

to identify the attitude of parents towards various aspects such as education, vocational training, health, socialization and future of their children with mental retardation.

to analyze the parental attitude with respect to c ertain selecte d soc iodemographic variables such as age, sex, bir th order and degree of mental retardation of their children and locality of residence.

Hypothesis Parental attitude towards the children with mental retardation differ with respect to the difference in the age, sex, birth order, degree of retardation and locality of residence. Method Survey method was adopted for the present study. The sample of the study consists of parents of 100 children with mental retardation randomly selected from five special schools of Kottayam district of Kerala state. An attitude scale developed and standardized by the investigators was the main tool used for the study. The scale was prepared in the form of Likert method of summated ratings. The ite ms we re me ant t o express definite favourableness or unfavourableness to different aspects regarding the attitude of parents towards educa tion, health, vocation, socialization and future of their children with mental retardation. A very high internal consistency reliability coefficient of 0.96 was obtained for the parental attitude scale. There were altogether 54 items in the scale. Each of the items was provided responses such as strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagree. For a positive item a weightage of 5,4,3,2, and 1 and for a negative item a weightage of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were given respectively. Thus, the possible range of attitude score is 54 to 270. A high score indicates positive parental attitude, while a low score indicates negative parental attitude. Statistical techniques such as arithmetic mean, independent 't'-test, and one-way analysis of variance were used for the purpose of data analysis. The mean attitude scores were converted into percentages by dividing the obtained mean score by the maximum possible score and multiplied by 100. 23

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Results and Discussion Table 1: Means, standard deviations and percentages of total parental attitude scores No.

Sub area (possible score)

Mean

Education (13-65)

53.11

4.51

81.70

Health (14-70)

60.53

5.73

86.47

Vocation(12-60)

48.36

5.25

80.60

Socialisation (11-55)

47.99

4.55

87.25

Future (4-20)

14.92

2.50

74.60

Total (54-270)

224.91

19.11

83.30

Table 1 shows the mean values and percentage of the attitude scores of parents towards educa tion, health, vocation, socialization and future of their children with mental retardation. The total mean value was found to be 224.91 and the percentage as 83.30 for the attitude of parents towards their children with mental retardation in general. In all the sub areas the obtained percentage values were quite high. These high values indicate a positive attitude of parents. Hence, it is concluded that, in general, parents have a highly favourable attitude towards their children with mental retardation. Table 2: Means and standard deviations of attitude scores of parents with respect to the age of the children with mental retardation.

Table 3: Summary of ANOVA for the attitude of parent with respect to the age of children Source of variation Between groups

SS 382.26

MS F-ratio

2 191.13

With in groups

35739.90 97 368.45 0.52

Total

36122.16 99

It is seen from the Table 3 that the F-ratio obtained for the scores of the three groups of parents is less than that of the table value at 0.05 level. Therefore it can be concluded that the age of children with mental retardation is not a significant factor, which influences the attitude of their parents. Table 4: Means, standard deviations and t-value of attitude scores of parents with respect to the sex of the children with mental retardation.

Age group (in years)

Mean

Below 10

226.80

18.65

Sex

Mean

t-value

11 - 14

226.76

18.62

Male

226.07

18.62

0.66

15 - 18

222.00

19.77

Female

223.48

19.82

Table 2 shows the frequencies, arithmetic means and standard deviations of the attitude scores of parents with respect to the age of their children with mental retardation. 24

Table 4 indicates that the obtained t-value for the two groups is less than that of the table value at 0.05 level. Hence, it can be concluded that the attitude of parents does not differ with

Sukumaran & Maya / Attitude of Parents

respect to the sex of the children with mental retardation. Table 5: Means and standard deviations of attitude score of parents with respect to the birth order of the children.

value at 0.05 level. Hence, it can be concluded that the attitude of parents does not differ with respect to their location of residence.

Birth order

Mean

First

225.01

17.97

Table 8: Means and s tand ar d deviations of attitude scores of parents with respect to the degree of retardation of the children

Middle

226.37

20.53

Degree

Mean

Last

224.94

19.99

Mild

225.28

19.92

Moderate

222.00

18.08

Severe

234.50

20.27

Table 5 shows the frequencies, arithmetic means and standard deviations of the attitude scores of parents with respect to the birth order of their children with mental retardation. Table 6: Summary of ANOVA for the attitude of parents with respect to the birth order of children Source of variation Between groups

46.54

MS F-ratio 23.27

With in groups

36075.66 97

Total

36122.16 99

Table 8 shows the frequencies, arithmetic means and standard deviations of the attitude scores of parents with respect to the degree of retardation of their children. Table 9: Summary of ANOVA for the attitude of parents with respect to the degree of retardation Source of variation

371.91 0.06

It is seen from the Table 6 that the F-ratio obtained for the attitude scores of the three groups of parents is less than that of the table value at 0.05 level. Therefore it can be concluded that the birth order of children with mental retardation is not a significant factor, which influences the attitude of parents.

Between groups

1379.71

689.85

F-ratio

With in groups

34742.45 97 358.17 1.93

Total

36122.16 99

Table 7: Means, standard deviations and t-value of attitude scores of parents with respect to the location of residence.

It is seen from the Table 9 that the F-ratio obtained for the attitude scores of the three groups of parents is less than that of the table value at 0.05 level. Therefore it can be concluded that the degree of retardation of children is not a significant factor, which influences the attitude of parents

Location

Mean

t-value

Implications and conclusion

Rural

225.89

19.38

1.23

Urban

216.64

12.77

Table 7 indicates that the obtained t-value for the two groups is less than that of the table

Findings of the preset study very clearly reveal a highly favourable attitude of parents towards various crucial aspects of the life of their children with mental retardation. This 25

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Journal of Disability Management and Special Education

favourable parental attitude towards education, vocational training, health, socialization and future of their children with mental retardation indirectly indicates their high level concern and expectation on their children. This point towards an unanswered question, that is, whether this favourable attitude is supported by high level parental knowledge on these issues? Positive attitude supported by proper awareness definitely will contribute to the higher level involvement in the special education and rehabilitation activities. Future studies should focus such questions. An earlier study conducted by Sukumaran (2000) concluded that, there is only an average level of parental involvement in the education of children with mental retardation. The study also revealed the parental desire for more involvement in educational decision making.

References

In the context of earlier observations, the present findings become more relevant. That is, favourable attitude is there, desire for more involvem ent is there, but the level of involvement is not adequate. In order to plan, organize and implement effective education, training and rehabilitation activities for children with menta l reta rdation prof essionals, especially, educators have to develop effective partnerships with parents. Rose and Howley (2007) state that teachers of children with mental retardation should listen to parents or caretakers and learn from their responsibilities. Findings of the present study indicate the possibilities of parental readiness for an effective partnership. If the teachers and rehabilitation professionals are able to make use of this positive parental attitude, children with mental retardation will be the ultimate beneficiaries.

Kim,Y.S. (1986). A comparative survey of anxiety in mothers of mentally retarded children in Tokyo and Seoul. Japanese Journal of Special Education,18(4), 4348.

AAIDD (2008). Mental Retardation: Definition, Cla ssification and Systems of Supports(10th edn.). Washington,D.C.: Ame rican Associat ion on Mental Retardation. Furnham,A. & Gibbs, M. (1984). School children's at titude towards the handicapped. Journal of Adolescent, 7(20), 99-117. Furnham,A. & Penred, J. (1983). Attitude towards physically and mentally disabled. British Journal of medical Psychology, 56(2), 179-187. Gathwala,G. & Gupta, S. (2004).Family burden in mentally handicapped children. Indian Journal of Community Medicine, 29(40).

Madu,S.N. (2000). Nigerian parental attitude towards their handicapped children and suggestion for proper rehabilitation. Psychotherapy and African Reality. UN Press, South Africa. Ramgopal,C.N.& Rao,M.(1994). Study of behavior disorde rs in moderat ely mentally retarded children and their relation to parental attitude. Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology, 21(2), 27-31. Rangaswami,K.(1995). Parental attitude towards mentally retarded children.

Sukumaran & Maya / Attitude of Parents

retardation. In S. Christopher(Ed.). Making a Dif fere nce. Exce l India Publishers, NewDelhi. pp. 124-131.

Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology, 22(1), 20-23. Rose,R. & Howley,M . (2007). Spec ial Educational Needs in Inclusive Primary classrooms. Paul Chapman Publishing Co., London. Seshadri,M., Verma,S.K. & Pershad, D.(1983). Impact of mentally handicapped child in the family. Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology, 10(2), 473-478. Sreedevi,T.R. & Sukumaran,P.S. (2010). Facilitating factors of coping in mothers of children with mental retardation. The Nursing Journal of India, CI(10), 236238. Sruthimol,K.P. & Sukumaran,P.S. (2008). Overprotection of individuals with mental

Sukumaran, P.S. (2000). Parental Involvement in the Educa tion of M enta lly Handic apped Children. Disc overy Publishing House, New Delhi. Sukumaran, P.S., Pereira,C. & Letha, R. (2006). Attitude of parents towards education of their children with mental retardation. In S.Christopher(Ed.). Channeling the Challenges of Disability. Macmillan India Ltd., New Delhi.pp. 353359. Venkatesan, S. (2007). Children with Developmental Disabilities - A Training Guide for Parents, Teac hers and Caregivers. Sage Publications Pvt.Ltd., New Delhi.

Vol. 1. No. 1 January 2011

Journal of Disability Management and Special Education ISSN: 2229-5143

Efficacy of Adapted Aids on Learning Science for Students with Visual Impairment at 8th Standard Level *J.B. Dheesha, ** M. Annakodi

Abstract Adapted aid means the nature of special approaches and presentation styles in the instructional aids that could be required for providing optimal learning experience to the students with visual impairment in the regular classroom. This paper presents importance of adaptation, principles for adaptation and effect of adapted experimental aids in learning science for students with visual impairment at 8th standard level. Based on the data, findings show that students with visual impairment are able to understand better the science concepts by adapted experimental aids. Key terms: Adapted aids, Students with visual impairment, Science

Introduction Science is a social phenomenon. Science permeates every walk of life. Man has always been interested in his environment. He always tried to explore and mould it. Modern science is no longer confined to the surface of this earth but it goes beyond and hence science is valuable. Hence children should be imparted education in science. Science education to students with visual impairment Many people believe that children with visual impairment cannot learn science. They even question the need for teaching science to students with visual impairment. But the achievements of many blind scholars in these areas in the west have proved that blindness is not a handicap in learning science subject. It

is even not desirable to omit this subject from the educational curriculum of children with visual problem since they are as important for visually impaired people as for their seeing counterparts. In modern times the life of an individual without the understanding of science concept cannot be imagined whether he is sighted or visually impaired. Students with visual impairment learn science concepts by using their other senses like auditory, kinesthetic and olfactory senses, for they need all the visual ideas to be converted into non-visual ideas through adaptation method. Adapted teaching aids Adapted teaching aid means the nature of special approaches and presentation styles in the instructional aids that would be required

*Asst. Professor in Special Education, Faculty of Disability Management & Special Education, RKMVU, Coimbatore **Asst. Professor in Special Education, Faculty of Disability Management & Special Education, RKMVU, Coimbatore

Dheesha & Annakodi / Adapted aids for students with Visual Impairment

for providing optimal learning experience to the visually impaired in the regular classroom. It is a process of making necessary changes such as duplication, modification, substitution, omission without changing the instructional objectives.

be given the adapted practical experience to form concepts correctly. Thus the study of efficacy of adapted teaching material will prove to contribute the science learning process for children with visual impairment to a great extent.

Concept of adapted teaching aid

Objective of the study were

The concept of adapted teaching aid is fast catching on in the education of children with visual impairment. The use of appropriate teaching aids, applying innovative ideas and creativity of the teacher in preparing and using teaching aids can make learning interesting in the classroom.

to select the practical oriented science concepts for adaptation.

to examine the effectiveness of adapted teaching aids in teaching and learning practical oriented science concepts to students with visual impairment..

to study the influence of variables if any in the performance of the sample.

Science has more visual ideas and less non- visual ideas and hence vision plays an important role in learning science. It contains more of experiments and diagrams. Due to the loss of vision, the students with visual impairment may find difficult in concept development to learn science, in spite of using their remaining senses like auditory and kinesthetic. Need for the Study Students with visual impairment are in need of adapted teaching aids to learn science for both theory as well as practical purpose. To some extent they can understand the theory part but they face a lot of difficulties in understanding experimental part. Professionals in the field of education of children with visual impairment mostly agree that methods followed for instruction of sighted children can also be applied to children with visual impairment with appropriate modification. Hence children with visual impairment who are devoid of visual experience should necessarily

Methodology The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between adapted experimental aids and its effect of learning science by children with visual impairment. Participants and Setting 21 students with visual impairment participated in the study out of which 6 students were totally blind and the remaining 15 students were found with low vision. Students were selected from both inclusive and integrated set up. Their age range was 12 to 17 years and most of the students were congenitally blind. Intervention 4 experiments were selected from physical science subject of 8th standard. They were adapted accordingly with different sensory modes. Treatment was given for a period of one day for each child. The details of the selected experiments are as follows 29

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Journal of Disability Management and Special Education

Experiment No. 1: Light travels in a straight line Aim: To understand that, the light travels in a straight line. Material required: three wooden boards with a hole in the centre, screen, bulb and battery. Procedure Place three wooden boards one behind the other such that the holes are aligned in a straight line. Now switch on the bulb from one end of the set up. The light glowing from the bulb will pass through the holes of the card board and falls on the screen kept on the other side of the experimental set up. If any one of the wooden boards is slightly moved from its position, the holes in the wooden board get dealigned and hence block the passage for the light to travel. Now replacing the wooden boards to its original position enables the light to travel in a straight line. Result: This proves that light travels in a straight line. Adaptations made The subjects were allowed to explore the alignment of the holes in a straight line with the help of a wooden stick which gave a tactual verification. The visual idea of the bulb glowing was supplemented with auditory output. When the wooden boards were kept in a straight line the bulbs glow with a sharp sound signal and when the boards were slightly misplaced, the glowing of the bulb was stopped and also the sound output was c ance led. Thus the adaptation was made on the grounds of auditory sense. 30

Adapted aid; light travels in a straight line

Experiment No. 2: Presence of oxygen in the atmosphere Aim: To prove the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere Material required: Beaker, jar, candle and water. Procedure: Take a beaker and place a candle in center of the beaker. Then pour water in to the beaker to a particular height. Light the candle and cover over the burning candle with a jar. After a few seconds the candle will put off automatically. It will be observed that the water level of the jar will increase and the water level in the beaker will decrease simultaneously due to the vacuum created in the jar when the supply of oxygen is blocked. Result: This proves that the oxygen is present in the atmosphere. Adaptations made: Cold water was substituted by hot water so that the students with visual impairment can make use of their kinesthetic sense to identify the change in the height of water level. The beaker was scratched on its inner surface so as to give a tactual discrimination for the students to understand the water level in the beaker. Moreover the increase in the water level inside the jar was also felt through kinesthetic sense due to the substitution of hot water.

Dheesha & Annakodi / Adapted aids for students with Visual Impairment

Adaptations Made: The students were allowed to keep a pinch of calcium chloride salt in their palm and tactually observed the salt getting wet due to the absorption of water molecules. The rusting of iron was understood by the students by making use of their olfactory and tactile sense. Adapted aid; Presence of oxygen in the atmosphere

Experiment No. 3: Rusting experiment Aim: To prove that oxygen and water are the supporter of rusting Material required: Test tube, nails, calcium chloride salt, hot water, cold water. Procedure: Take 3 test tubes in a test tube stand and label them as A,B and C. Take test tube A and put some amount of calcium chloride salt and place the nail inside the test tube. Take test tube B, pour hot water and place the nail in the test tube. Take test tube C, pour cold water and place the nail in it. Cover all the test tubes with cotton. Keep it for 3 days. After three days take these nails and watch carefully. The nail in the test tube C alone gets rusted and the other two nails are free from rusting. This is because in the first test tube calcium chloride salt has absorbed all the water molecules and hence the nail is not rusted. The nail is found to be good in second test tube because boiled water is diverting of oxygen and hence rusting does not take place. Result: From this experiment we can understand that water and oxygen are important for rusting.

Adapted aid; rusting experiment

Experiment No. 4: Parallel Circuit Experiment Aim: To show that current flows in a parallel circuit sequence. Material required: Wooden board, bulbs, wires and battery. Procedure: Place three bulbs in the wooden board. Each bulb in the wooden board is separately connected with the battery. When the wires of all these three bulbs are in contact with the battery the bulbs glow. If any one of the wires is disconnected from the battery, that particular bulb will not glow while the rest of the bulbs keep glowing. Result: This proves that current flows in a parallel circuit. Adaptations Made: The light glowing from three bulbs were replaced with three 31

Vol. 1 No. 1 January 2011

Journal of Disability Management and Special Education

different sound signals. Thus auditory mode of adaptation was adopted in this experiment.

There was a significant difference between pre test and post test scores in the performance of experiment 2 by the sample selected. There was a significant difference between pre test and post test scores in the performance of experiment 3 by the sample selected. There was a significant difference between pre test and post test scores in the performance of experiment 4 by the sample selected. This shows that in all experiment post test scores were greater than the pre test scores.

Adapted aid; Parallel Circuit Experiment

Instrumentation: A teacher made check list was prepared with 10 questions for each experiment. The answer to the questions was indicated by checking. The options used in the check list were "Correct answer given" and "Correct answer not given". Design and Data Analysis: This study explains the efficacy of adapted aids in learning science for students with visual impairment. It tries to bring out the cause and effect relationship between the variables and hence experimental research design was used for this study. Data gathered were analyzed on several different levels both quantitatively and qualitatively. The demographic details were analyzed qualitatively. Result: Each research hypothesis was clearly linked to a specific data analysis procedure and outcomes were presented sequentially based on the order derived from the analysis of the hypothesis. The findings are mentioned below: There was a significant difference between pre test and post test scores in the performance of experiment 1 by the sample selected. 32

In the experiment 1, students above the age group of 15 years performed well than the students with the age of below 15 years. There was no significant difference between the students based on their age group in performing the experiments on parallel circuit, oxygen and rusting. There was no significant difference between totally blind and low vision students in performing the experiments on light, parallel circuit, oxygen and rusting. There was no significant difference betwee n students with congenit al and adventitious visual impairment in performing experiments on light, parallel circuit, oxygen and rusting. Discussion Science subject is considered as one of the most important subject in the education of any human kind. As it has more experiments and visual ideas. It seems to be a complicated subject for students with visual impairment. They need more adaptations in order to understand experiments and other visual ideas. Adaptations can be applied to activities, items or environment. The main purpose is to

Dheesha & Annakodi / Adapted aids for students with Visual Impairment

maximize the visually impaired student's participation in various functions without making drastic alterations. It was found that usage of adapted aids for students with visual impairment will enable them to understand the concept of experiments without any confusion. They facilitate students with visual impairment to get a clear concept when they participate in doing the experiments by themselves, which ultimately highlights ada pted aids for students with visual impairment. Conclusion By using adapted teaching aids students with visual impairment can realize the nature and impact of science and in turn this enhances their love for science subject and improves their knowledge about science. Reference Gupta (2007). Innovative science teaching for physica l science tea chers. Ra jat publication, New Delhi. Jangira, Mani, M.N.G. (1990). Integrated education for visually handicapped management perspective. Gurgeon, Academic press.

Mani, M.N.G. et.al (1999). See with the blind, CBM, Banglore. Manivannan, M. (2005) Educating visually impaired children, Mugil publishers, Venkatasamudram. Madhya Pradesh Bhoj University book, SESV: 03 - Instructional methods, Block - 3. Net publication Hoffman, K. (2000). Teacher's manual for adapting science experiments for blind and visually impaired students. Mastropieri, M.A. (2008). Science for students with disabilities. Rangasamy (2001). Science for students with visual impairments. Teaching suggestions and policy implications for secondary educators. Stefanich (2001). Science instruction for students with visual impairment. Eric digest. Wild, T. (2000). Teaching science to students with visual impairment www.google.com. www.wickypedia.com www.eric.com

Vol. 1. No. 1 January 2011

Journal of Disability Management and Special Education ISSN: 2229-5143

A Study of Early Childhood Care and Education of Children with Hearing Impairment in Anganwadi Centre Abhishek Kr. Srivastava **R. Rangasayee

Abstract Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) has assumed importance for the holistic development of very young children. ECCE under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) aims at universalization and qualitative improvement at primary education. The present study has been undertaken with the objectives to study awareness level of Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) regarding early identification, communication skills and hearing aids to deal with CWHI. Using purposive stratified sampling technique, a sample of 38 AWWs from both rural as well as urban areas of Varanasi district, U.P. was selected. For the collection of data a questionnaire was used. The analysis of the data shows that 31.57% of AWWs have adequate awareness about CWHI. 55.26% of AWWs have adequate awareness about early identification of CWHI , 31.57% of AWWs have adequate awareness about communication skills to deal with CWH and. 21.05% of AWWs have adequate awareness about hearing aids. Key terms: Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), Anganwadi Worker (AWWs, Children with Hearing Impairment (CWHI).

Introduction The early years are crucial in the development of children. Recently remarkable progress and exciting discoveries have been made in the f ield of ea rly c hildhood development. The findings of these research studies lay tremendous emphasis on the early years of children. Hence, the earliest years of child's life are considered as "golden age" for education. Inclusive education as a concept is a notion that requires school to respond to the varying competencies of children rather than adapting to the school curriculum practices. (Sandlin & Singh, 2004). The fundamental principle of inclusive school is that all children should learn together

wherever possible regardless of any difficulties or differences they may have. Inclusive school must recognize and respond to the diverse needs of their students, accommodating both different styles and rates of learning and ensuring quality education to all through appropriate curricula , organizational arrangements, teaching strategies, resource use and partnership with their communities (Lipsky & Gartner, 1999). With t he emergenc e of 'Inclusion" Anganwadi is also supposed to deal with the children with disability in general and children with hearing impairment (CWHI, henceforth) in particular Anganwadi center might be envisaged as the best preparatory center for

*Asst. Professor in special Education, Faculty of Disability Management & Special Education, RKMVU, Coimbatore **Director, Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai

Srivastava & Rangasayee / ECCE of CWHI in Anganwadi Centre

the holistic development of children which uses play way method of teaching with indigenous approach. It is in the above context that the present study assumes significance. Activities organized in the Anganwadi center as directed towards promoting in children the ability to express thoughts and feelings and also understanding the concepts like colour, shape, size, texture and directions. Activities are also organized for language development and eventually for all round development of children which has its positive effects on school readiness, enrolment and retention of children at primary stage and in this way ECCE organized in Anganwadi centers may occupy the biggest role to make "Sarva Siksha Abhiyan" successful. A study conducted by Chandrashekhar (1986) found that children participating in Anganwadi have significantly higher physical development, greater mutual ability, and better behavioural aspect. Kumar (2006) conducted a study to find out the overall knowledge and skills of teachers for inclusive education of CWHI. The results of the study revealed that teachers have adequate overall knowledge for inclusive education (86.66%), early identification (100%), individual hearing loss (33.33%) and special instructional skills (20 %) in teaching CWHI. Zink (1972) in his study "Hearing Aids Children Wear: A Longitudinal Study of Performance" commented that the teachers were found to have limited background information regarding care and operation of hearing aids.

The relevance of the present study rests in the fact that Anganwadi center which covers a large area across the country and the most significant thing about Anganwadi center is that it is in uniform manner throughout the country that meets the local needs. If Anganwadi centers are equipped well and Anganwadi Workers are trained properly, it can positively contribute to the nation and assist to make 'Inclusion Successful'. Hence a need was felt to assess whether existing Anganwadi centers are adequately prepared to cater the needs for inclusion of CWHI so that the gaps if any can be bridged effectively. Objectives of the Study were 1.

To study awareness level of AWWs about CWHI.

To study awareness level of AWWs about early identification of CWHI.

To study awareness level of AWWs about communication skills to deal with CWHI.

To study awareness level of AAWs about hearing aids.

To study the difference between awareness level of rural and urban AWWs about CWHI.

Methodology Research Design: The research design selected for the present study was survey type. Sampling Technique: Purposive stratified sampling was used. Sample Size: 19 AWWs from each rural as well as urban area were selected. Table: 1 showing no. of selected sample

AWWs 35

Rural

Urban

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Journal of Disability Management and Special Education

Sample Selection Criteria: The following criteria were used to select the subject (AWWs) for the present study. Training: Anganwadi workers should have bee n trained by I CDS training programme prepared by NIPCCD. Experience: AWWs should have work experience of at least 2 years in Anganwadi centers. Sr. No.

Language: The Anganwadi workers mother-tongue should be Hindi and can understand the research tool prepared in the aforesaid language. Research Tool: For the present study, a questionnaire was used Table: 2 showing the number of questions in the questionnaire after validation

Area (Awareness level of AWWs about CWHI)

No. of selected questions

Early identification

Communication skills

Hearing aids

Total

Translation of the Research tool The final research tool was in English. As the sample of the study had been chosen from Hindi speaking belt therefore the research tool (questionnaire) was given for translation. An expert translated the tool from English into Hindi and then it was verified through reverse translation.

for the study. The findings thus arrived are presented below: Adequate awareness level of AWWs about CWHI

For objective 1 that is the awareness level of AWWs about CWHI, the research question 1 was framed so as to answer the question 'what percentage of AWWs has adequate awareness about CWHI?' The scores on the Result and Discussion administration of tool that was questionnaire The scores obtained on administration of were converted into percentage score. In order research tool on the selected sample (AWWs) to get the percentage of AWWs having were categorized in such a way, which can "adequate awareness", only those AWWs were answer the formulated research questions set considered who had scored 65% and above. As shown in Table no. 3. Table: 3 showing % of AWWs having adequate awareness about CWHI No. of AWWs Variable

Maximum

Minimum s

(rural + urban) obtainable core for adequate

No. of AWWs

% of AWWs

scored 65%

having adequate awareness

score

awareness

& above

Awareness about CWHI

31.57

Srivastava & Rangasayee / ECCE of CWHI in Anganwadi Centre

Interpretation As evident from Table No. 3 that the total number of AWWs is 38 and no. of AWWs having scored 65% and above is 12 (31.57%). Hence, the result obtained for the research question 1. shows that 31.57% of AWWs have adequate awareness about CWHI. Discussion: Results of the present study clearly revealed that less than half of the AWWs have adequate awareness about children with hearing impairment. The reason of their lack of awareness about CWHI might be the training package with which they have been trained. In their training package, emphasis might not be given on CWHI. The study conducted by Kumar (2006) has also indicated that only 86.66% of teachers have adequate overall knowledge for inclusive education of CWHI

and 66.66% of teachers have adequate overall skills for inclusive education of CWHI. The difference in the awareness of AWWs and teachers in inclusive education might be because of their formal training. So the need is to train almost 69% of AWWs so that they can be made aware about CWHI. Adequate awareness level of AWWs about early identification of CWHI For objective 2 that is to study the awareness level of AWWs about early identification of CWHI, the research question 2 was framed so as to answer the question 'what percentage of AWWs has adequate awareness about early identification of CWHI?' The 65% cut off criteria was followed to consider AWWs as having adequate awareness about early identification of CWHI.As shown in Table 4.

Table No. 4 showing % of AWWs having adequate awareness about early identification: No. of AWWs Variable

Maximum

Minimum s

(rural + urban) obtainable core for adequate

No. of AWWs

% of AWWs

scored 65%

having

score

awareness

& above

adequate awareness

55.26

Awareness about early identification

Interpretation: It is evident from table 4 that 21 (55.26%) out of 38 AWWs scored 65% and above. Hence, the result obtained for the research question 1.1 shows that 55.26% of AWWs have adequate awareness about early identification of CWHI. Discussion: The result shows that more than half of the AWWs have adequate awareness about

early identification of CWHI. This may be because identification consists of single area in comparison to awareness about CWHI, which consists of more than one area. Kumar (2006) found out that 100% of teachers for inclusive education of CWHI had adequate knowledge on identification of CWHI and the reason of their awareness was that all the teachers selected in the present study had undergone the foundation course on education 37

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of CWHI. So here it is suggested that for almost half of the AWWs, any short term training or foundation course should be provided so that the awareness of AWWs regarding identification of CWHI can be improved. For objective 3 that is to study the adequate awareness level of AWWs about communication skills to deal with CWHI

Another research question 3 was framed to as to answer the question 'what percentage of AWWs has adequate awareness about communication skills to deal with CWHI?' The 65% cut off criteria was followed to consider AWWs as having adequate awareness about communication skills.

Table No. 5 showing % of AWWs having adequate awareness about communication skills to deal with CWHI. No. of AWWs Variable

Maximum

Minimum s

(rural + urban) obtainable core for adequate

No. of AWWs

% of AWWs

scored 65%

having

score

awareness

& above

adequate awareness

31.57

Awareness about Communication skills

Interpretation: A look at the table 5 reveals that 11 (31.57%) out of 38 AWWs scored 65% and above. Hence, the result obtained for the research question 1.2 shows that 31.57% AWWs have adequate awareness about communication skills to deal with CWHI. Discussion: The result clearly shows that less than half of AWWs have adequate awareness about communication skills to deal with CWHI. This may be due to the reason that they have not been trained for it. While talking to the very young children and while teaching CWHI most of the AWWs were not aware of the fact related to communication skills to deal with CWHI. The situation with teachers for inclusive education is also alarming where only 20% of teachers have adequate special instructional skills in teaching students with hearing impairment (Kumar, 2006). According to 38

Gresham (1982) mentioned that simply placing children with disabilities in regular classroom does not mean that the child will learn. The instructional skills need to be adapted as per the needs of disabled children. Bacon and Schultz (1991) conducted a survey on mainstreaming practices, and found that regular education teachers were generally not in favour of including children with special needs in their classroom. Thus, to overcome these problems AWWs should be given training. For objective 4 that is to study the adequate awareness level of AWWs about hearing aids, research question 4 was framed to study the awareness of AWWs about communication skills to deal with CWHI, as to answer the question 'what percentage of AWWs has adequate awareness about hearing aids?' The 65% cut off criteria was followed to consider AWWs as having adequate awareness about hearing aids.

Srivastava & Rangasayee / ECCE of CWHI in Anganwadi Centre

Table No. 6 showing % 0f AWWs having adequate awareness about hearing aids No. of AWWs Variable

Maximum

Minimum s

No. of AWWs

% of AWWs

scored 65%

having adequate awareness

(rural + urban) obtainable core for adequate

Hearing aids

score

awareness

& above

Interpretation: It is clear from table No. 6 that only 7 (21.05%) out of 38 AWWs scored 65% and above. Hence, the result obtained for the research question 1.3 shows that 21.05% of AWWs have adequate awareness about hearing aids. Discussion: The result clearly shows that less than half of the AWWs have adequate awareness about hearing aids. Even today hearing aids have not yet got popularity as compared to spectacles which everybody knows, this might be due to lack of awareness among AWWs about hearing aids and another reason may be due to the lack of any formal training. Kumar (2006) found out that 33.33% of teachers have adequate knowledge of individual hearing aids. He also found out that 60% of teachers have adequate knowledge of the parts of individual hearing aids. Zinc

21.05

(1972) in his longitudinal study of hearing aids found that the tea chers have limited background information regarding care and operation of hearing aids. In education of CWHI, hearing aid plays a vital role hence, it is suggested that 80% of AWWs needs to be trained regarding awareness and handling of hearing aids, which will facilitate education of CWHI. Testing the hypothesis The final objective formulated for the present study was to see whether there is any significant difference between awareness level of rural and urban AWWs about CWHI and for this a null hypothesis was formulated that is "There is no significant difference between awareness level of rural and urban AWWs about CWHI". In order to test the null hypothesis 't' test was applied, the result of which is given below:

Table 7 showing't' test analysis for awareness level of AWWs about CWHI AWWs

# of AWWs

Mean

Std. Deviation

't' value

'p' value

Result

(2-tailed) Rural 19

7.32

1.97

Urban 18

6.39

2.09

1.387

0.174 *

Non- significant *

*Non-significant at 0.05 level Interpretation: From the above table, it can be observed that computed 't' value is 1.387 and the

corresponding 'p' value (2-tailed) is 0.174. Since the 'p' value is greater than 0.05 (the level of significance). Therefore, the null 39

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Journal of Disability Management and Special Education

hypothesis is accepted. It implies that the difference in the awareness level of rural and urban AWWs about CWHI is statistically nonsignificant. Discussion: It is generally regarded that in urban area there is much awareness in comparison to rural areas, however in the contrary it was found that there is no significant difference between the awareness level of AWWs about CWHI in rural and urban areas. Conclusion: Majority of AWWs do not have adequate awareness about CWHI, early identification, communication skills and about hearing aids so that they can effectively deal with CWHI. Hence it is recommended that respective authorities may look into these aspects while providing training to AWWs so that they can effectively deal with CWHI and make inclusion and ECCE suc cessful. Anot her recommendation is that AWWs have not undergone formal training to deal with CWHI efficiently and effectively. So actions are to be taken to provide formal training to them in order to make them more knowledgeable and skillful in the area of disability in general and hearing impairment in particular.

Reference: Chandrasekhar, S. (1986). Proceedings of XVI Annula Conference of Indian Association of Preventive and Socail Medicine, Srinagar. Chaturvedi, S. (1987). ICDS Scheme on Psyosocial Development Indian Paediatrics , National Institute of Rural Development,24 :153-160. Kumar, Kaushlendra. (2006). A study of Knowledge and Skills of Teachers for Inclusive Education of Students with Hearing Impairment. Unpublished Dissertation of M.Ed. (HI), University of Mumbai. Lipskey &, A. Gartner (1999). Inclusive Education: A Recruitment of Democratic Society, in Deniels, H. S. Garner,P. (1999), Inclusive Education: Supporting Inclusion in Education System. Sandlin & Singh (2004) "Practice in Inclusive Education", Journal of Childhood Disability, Vol. 1.3, Special Issue, 2004, Page 26 (3), 26. Zink, G.O. (1972). Hearing Aid Children Wear: A Longitudinal Study of Performance, Volta Review, 74(10) 41-57.

Vol. 1. No. 1 January 2011

Journal of Disability Management and Special Education ISSN: 2229-5143

Comparative Analysis of Responses towards various Stimuli Among Children with Mental Retardation and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Educational Setting * Rajiv Ranjan

Abstract The study investigates the differences in the responses towards various stimuli among children with mild mental retardation (MR) associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and children with mild MR without any associated conditions. 20 participants (10 from each category), between the age range of 4-10 years were selected based on purposive sampling. All the participants were coming for follow-up services at National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped (NIMH) Regional Chapter, Kolkata. Researcher had developed a tool considering sensory stimuli (visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, vestibular, and tactile). The stimuli were presented through various activities. The data were collected in 25 sessions and result was analyzed and interpreted through Chi-square tables. The study reveals that- (1) Stimulus type does not have a role in deciding the quality of responses given by children with ASD and children with MR, because whatever is the stimulus, comparatively positive responses were found more in numbers among children with MR while poor and no response was uniformly seen for all types of stimulus among children with ASD. It was also found that although there is no significant numerical difference in many responses, but significant differences appear in the quality and pattern of the responses of two groups. Key terms: Stimulus, Response, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Mental Retardation.

Introduction Drew, Logan and Haudman (1984) reported that as soon as a child is identified as already being ment ally reta rded and developmentally disabled, health care workers and child development specialists have to begin infant stimulation programmes as a means of assisting the child in developmental progress. They said that it is a routine part of the environm ent a t hom e. Talking about stimulation programmes; they stated that it should be reflected by infants and it should

have close resemblance with rich experience that the children enjoy it. Mercer and Mercer (1993) found about multisensory methods based on the premise that some students learn best when context is preserved in several modalities that is the response outcome will be positive. Frequently, kinesthetic and tactile stimulations are used along with the visual and auditory modalities. The multisensory programs that features tracing, hearing, writing, and seeing often referred as visual - auditory - kinesthetic - tactile (VAKT) method.

*Assistant Professor in special Education, FDMSE, Ramakrishna Mission University, Coimbatore, India. E-mail-rajivnimh@yahoo.co.in, Website-ihrdc@vsnl.net

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Carpentieri and Morgan (1994) compared how the patterns of cognitive functioning in children having autism with mental retardation differ from the findings in children with mental retardation who do not have autism. The autistic group had a range of Stanford - Binet - IV composite score from 36 to 68, whereas children with mental retardation had composite scores from 36 to 67 on eight subtests vocabulary, comprehension, absurdities, quantitative, reasoning, pattern analysis, copying bead memory, and memory for sentences. The mean scores in each area of two groups in this study indicate that in some areas children with mental retardation scored high when compared with autistic children like verbal reasoning whereas in some areas the autistic group scored high than children with mental retardation like qualitative reasoning. Westeling and Fosc (1995) presented that it is based on the theory that sensory stimulation is necessary to improve the sensory processing capabilities of the brain that are needed for subsequent learning tasks. They also said that interventions that use a sensory integrative approach may involve adapting a learning activity to provide sensory integrative experiences within the activity or may involve rubbing the student with textured items to provide tactile stimulations, moving the child on a therapy ball, in a net, or on a scooter board to provide vestibular stimulation or positioning the student in a way to accommodate sensory input within a learning activity. Bacon (1998) investigated that children with autism are less responsive towards orienting stimulus .In their study on "the responses of autistic children to the distress of 42

others" found that the frequency of refusal and no response was high in children with autism in compared to mental retardation and developm entally la nguage disordered. Prosocial responses whether verbal or nonverbal are a low frequency behavior for the total sample, researcher had elicited responses on the stimulus like in lost pen situation .Comparison have done among high functioning children with autism , low functioning autistic children and normal children. Rogers, Hepburs, and Wehner (2003) examined how early and how well sensory symptoms differentiate autism from other developmental disorders. The aim of the study were (1) To examine the parental reports of sensory symptoms in young children with different developmental disabilities including autism, (2) To examine the relationship of sensory symptoms with intellectual ability, age, overall severity of specific symptom associated with autism (3) To evaluate the relative contribution of sensory symptoms to the acquisition of adaptive bahaviour in young children. The study investigate that children with autism had significantly more elevated level of sensory symptoms compared with children having typical development and delayed development of the same mental ages. This study also reported that the children with autism and fragile x syndrome both have similar levels of sensory behaviours but what discriminate them is children with autism have repetitive behaviour which fragile x syndrome does not. Another important finding was that sensory scores correlate with severity of autism symptoms and intelligence quotient in the group, But with fragile x syndrome and other

Ranjan / Responses towards various stimuli

groups, the intelligence quotient or mental age with developmentally delays are independent of sensory scores. Adamson, O' Hare and Graham (2006) in their study - impairments in sensory modulation in children with autistic spectrum disorder has demonstrated that the majority of children affected by autistic spectrum conditions experienced difficulties in sensory processing. All the participants were diagnosed on the diagnostic classification of either the international classification of diseases 10 (ICD 10) or the diagnostic and statistical Manual for mental disorder, 4th edition (DSM-IV) (American Psychological Association 1994). A tool which was used is a start sensory profile (SSP) which was short form of sensory profile developed by Dunn in 1997. The short sensory profile was administered on children which includes sub tests like tactile sensitivity, movement sensitivity, visual / auditory sensitivity, taste / smell sensitivity, auditory filtering, low energy / weak and under responsive / seeks sensation. The study investigated that over 70% of children affected with an ASD exhibited sensory modulation difficulties. It is found that there is no significant relationship between the severity of the sensory modulation difficulties and the age of the affected child. Narayan and Srinivas (2007) presented that visual cues are the best supports to children with ASD to understand and utilize the environment optimally. Dysfunction of sensory integration happens when brain is not able to organize the received sensory information for use due to various responses. When a child has sensory integration dysfunct ion characterized by inefficiencies in organizing the

sensory information within the nervous system, we often see inconsistencies in performances. Teachers and parents see the tremendous potential of the child but get puzzled and frustrated at the unexplained inconsistencies in performance. While presenting information about sensory symptoms; they have also mentioned that because of brain malfunction, many children with autism are highly attuned or even painfully sensitive to certain sounds, textures, taste and smell. Such studies are conspicuous by its absence. Hence there is a need for such studies, which will directly help teachers as well as parents of children with mental retardation and autism in selection of appropriate stimulus for these groups of population. With this end in view the current study aims to carry out an analysis of responses to various stimuli among children with mental retardation and children with autism. The hypothesis formulated for the study were as follows-(a) Stimulus type does not play any role in deciding the quality of response given by children with intellectual disabilities, and children with autism. (b) There will not be any difference in the response of children with intellectual disabilities, and children with autism if similar stimuli are presented to both the groups. c) There will not be any difference in stimulus modality for eliciting best responses against particular stimulus among children with intellectual disabilities, and children with autism. d) There will not be any difference in number of delayed, unique and no responses in case between children with intellectual disabilities, and children with autism. e) There will not be any difference in number of meaningful/expected response between 43

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children with intellectual disabilities, and children with autism.

working experience with both the categories of children with MR and ASD.

Methodology

Development of Tool

The aim of the study was to compare the responses of children with mild MR associated with ASD against the responses of children with mild MR who are not associated with ASD. Keeping such aims the present research was conducted based on qualitative design, where the responses of the students of the two groups are compared qualitatively and the numerical differences in their responses against various stimuli are interpreted.

A tool was developed with various stimuli by the researcher for collecting data; however each stimulus was presented through various activities. A list of activities was prepared which are frequently occurring in an educational setting of children with special needs. A pilot study was conducted with four subjects diagnosed with mild mental retardation category purposively selected between the age ranges of 4 to 10 years. Out of these four students, two were diagnosed with ASD. After conducting pilot test with 40 items, 5 were removed from the tool because of the certain reason like stimuli which were not ethically appropriate, where the threat of interference of other stimuli was suspected along with the target stimuli, the stimuli which were difficult to present in the school environment, and any threat of creating sensory difficulties. After conducting pilot study the tool was distributed to a group of professionals who had research experience in this area. Out of thirty five items included in the tool, 3 were further removed from the list on the basis of the comments received from the specialist and only 32 items were included in the finally developed tool. The number of various types of stimuli presented through 32 items were visual-6, auditory-6, vestibular-6, tactile-4, taste-4, visual + auditory-4, tactile + auditory-1, olfactory-1.

Sample Using purposive sampling technique a total number of 20 students have been selected. Ten from the category of mild mental retardation and other ten from mild mental retardation associated with ASD were selected. The eligibility criteria for all the 20 participants were: i.

Chronological age (CA) - between 4 to 10 years.

ii.

IQ range- 55 to 69.

iii. Absence of significant (temporary or permanent) medical or genetic conditions/ problems. iv.

Absence of sensory or motor impairments.

Absence of psychological conditions like schizophrenia, mood disorder or severe attention deficit hyperactive disorder.

vi. Verbal communication (minimum at two words/phrase level). Diagnosis All the cases were diagnosed by the clinical psychologist and medical doctor having 44

Procedure For systematic collection of data, four types of formats were developed. Out of them, three were used by researcher and the other one to be used by the parents.

Ranjan / Responses towards various stimuli

Format-1 contained the information on items presented on particular session, number of session, participants need to be included on particular session and time allotted for the collection of data through different activities. Format-2 was developed to record the information about the number of participants available on each session during data collection. Format-3 was a data recording sheet used by the researcher, which provide information about the responses of all the 20 participants towards particular stimuli and the order in which the responses were collected and format- 4 was developed only for the parents. It was a date and time schedule about the presence of participants required on different sessions. The responses from all the 20 participants against different stimuli were collected in 25 sessions. The actual time allotted for the responses to be elicited was 10 hours and the time allotted for different activity / stimulus varied according to the demand for particular stimuli. The parents of both the groups were explained about different activities and time

schedule verbally and through format-4 which is also given to them. Setting The time allotted for different sessions varied depending on the types of stimulus and activities. For example stimulus presented through breakfast was presented on same day for all the 20 children. This is to avoid possible variation in the taste of different items. The complete setting of data collection can be easily understood from the following table -1. A parental consent form has been developed for getting their written consent. Parents were explained about the study and the purpose behind this study, however list of all the items and activities were also attached with the consent form. Apart from this dates of data collection, time duration, and use of video camera were also mentioned. Parents were also explained about the possible benefits (if any) from the data collection. A consent form with all the above mentioned information was also developed for the teachers. The consent form was also translated in to regional (Bengali) language.

Table-1(Format-1) S. Activity No. 1

Stimulus presented

Number of session taken

Allotted time

Birthday Celebration -Saying Hello

4 session

30 min X 4 = 2Hrs

(Session1 to 4)

-Clapping hands

(5 participants on

-Power supply disconnected

each session)

-Musical chair -Throwing balloon -Washing hand with chilled water -Washing hands with warm water -Telling - 'Good bye' 45

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S. Activity No. 2

Journal of Disability Management and Special Education

Stimulus presented

Number of session taken

Allotted time

Drama

- Picture of a dog

2 session

15 min X 2 = 30 min

(Session 5 to 6)

-Person in animal costume

15 min X 2 = 30 min

-Person in animal costume makes animal sound -Torch light -Barking sound of a dog (10 participants on each session) 3

Breakfast

-Lime juice

2 session

(Session - 7)

-Curry with comparatively

(10 participants on

more chili

each session )

-Sauce with comparatively

(* 1 day)

more salt -Safi (syrup) 4

Classroom situation-1 -Fevicol stick on hand

4 session

(Session8 to 11)

-Ringing of school bell

(5 participants on

-Teachers compliment - very good

each session )

Classroom situation-2 -Teachers command stop

4 session

(Session12to15)

(student name)

(5 participants on

-Building blocks

each session)

30 min X 2 + 1 Hrs

30 min X 4 = 2 hrs

-Animal sound given from computer 5

Toileting

-Smell of phenyl inside toilet

4 session

+ play-1

-Crossing a small water pool

(5 participants on

(Session16 to 19) 6

15 min X 4= 1 hour

each session )

Play -2

-Standing on a balance board

2 session

(Session20 to 21)

-Standing on acupressure board

(10 children each session )

30 min X 2 + 1 hour

Ranjan / Responses towards various stimuli

S. Activity No.

Stimulus presented

Number of session taken

Allotted time

Play -3

- Climbing on jungle gym

2 session

30 min X 2 + 1 hour

(Session22to23)

- Swinging on a swing

(10children

- Playing on a slide

each session)

Play-4

- Catching ball on sand

2 session

(Session 24+25)

- Running on teacher's command

(10 participants on

30 min X 2 + 1 hour

each session ) 32 activities

25 sessions

Presentation of stimuli through different activities 1.

Birthday Celebration -Stimuli under this activity were presented in 4 sessions and each session was completed in 30 minutes. 5 students had participated in every session. During presentation of the stimuli; following points had been taken care:i.

All the children were said hello by a group consisting same number of children.

ii.

Power supply was disconnected for 1 minute in each session.

iii.

Musical chair game was organised only for 5 minutes for each session.

iv.

The same children told 'good bye' to all the children when they were leaving the celebration hall.

10 hours

were trained for acting for 10 days continuous rehearsal. To avoid the maturity in acting or to reduce the gap between their performances in different sessions, the drama is completed only in 2 sessions and in each day responses of 10 participants (5 Autism and 5 MR) were collected. 3.

Dra ma- Five children f rom the chronological age group of 15 to 18, studying in prevocational class were selected for acting in the drama. All the 5 children were high functioning mild mentally retarded (IQ =60 to 70). They 47

Breakfast / Lunch-These activities were conducted in only one session but in 2 sittings. In first sitting, 10 children (5 Autism and 5 MR) were served food and as they finished their food, other 10 participants (5 Autism and 5 MR) were called for breakfast and responses towards different item/taste were elicited. The reason to call all the children on the same day was to avoid the variation in cooking and taste of food prepared on different days. All the 20 children were served same food and in equal amount. All the mothers of the children were present behind them. But they were asked not to give any prompt to their children. Water or any other items were served by the researcher only.

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day was because of the variation in smell of phenyl after 1 minute.

Classroom situation- 6 activities were presented under this section and it was divided in to 2 parts and in both parts, 3 activities were conducted to elicit the responses.

6. Play (2, 3, and 4): The other 7 play activities were conducted during these sessions and divided into 3 parts.

Classroom situation 1: The 3 activities were conducted in 4 sessions and in all the 4 sessions, 5 participants were included to elicit responses towards the stimuli like sticking glue on hand, ringing of school bell and response towards the compliment given by the teacher as 'very good'. Classroom situation 2: For this situation data is collected in 4 sessions - In each session, the 3 stimuli such as teachers command - 'Stop' (name of the child), building blocks and presentation of animal sounds were presented to 5 children (table-1).

ď ˇ

In the 2nd part, standing on balance board & standing on acupressure board was conducted.

ď ˇ

During part 3, outdoor play activities (playing on slide, climbing on jungle gym and swinging on swing) were conducted.

ď ˇ

In part 4, playing on sand and running race on teachers command were conducted and responses towards these stimuli were recorded accordingly.

All the responses were recorded manually by the researcher but parental agreement was also taken on collected responses. Apart from the manual recording method, video camera was also used during different sessions.

5. Toileting and play-1 - Toileting and an activity of play (crossing a water pool) were conducted in 4 sessions (in each session 5 participants were called). First their responses towards the smell of phenyl in the toilet were elicited and then their responses while crossing a water pool were elicited. To maintain the consistency in phenyl smell on all the 4 session, the ratio of phenyl and water was kept constant on all the 4 days. The reason of not including all the 20 participants in one

Results and discussion The chi-square values for each response and its significant level are presented in the other columns. Although very few chi-square values were found statistically significant but the differences found in the number of students of two groups in case of maximum number of elicited response.

Table-1: Comparison of "elicited response vs. no response" in various activities between the two groups of children Activities

Groups

Total no. of responses

Response elicited

no response elicited

Birthday celebration

Group1

(68.75%)

(31.25%)

(MR with Autism) 48

Ranjan / Responses towards various stimuli

Activities

Groups

Total no. of responses

Response elicited

no response elicited

Group2

(87.5%)

(12.5%)

(76%)

(24%)

(96%)

(4%)

(75%)

(25%)

(87.5%)

(12.5%)

(71.6%)

(28.4%)

(91.6%)

(84%)

(40%)

(60%)

(40%)

(92.5%)

(7.5%)

(93.75%)

(6.25%)

(Mental Retardation) Drama/Play

Group1 Group2

50 50

(Mental Retardation) Lunch/breakfast

Group1

(MR with Autism) Group2

(Mental Retardation) Classroom situation

Group1

(MR with Autism) Group2

(Mental Retardation) Toileting

Group1

(MR with Autism) Group2

(Mental Retardation) Play/Outdoor activities

Group1

(MR with Autism) Group2

(Mental Retardation) Children with autism are very much known t o be not responding to the environmental stimuli in daily life. The similar results was found in previous studies that high frequency of refusal and no responses found in case of ASD compared with MR" (Bacon, 1998). Another study quoted as unusual responsiveness and over selectivity in case of children with ASD interfere learning and

generalization (Schersbman, 1992) which was also found in present study. Further it can be seen in the table-2 &3 that in all types of stimuli the responses from children with MR were more in number than ASD. Simultaneously it can also be seen that the stimulus condition which is social in nature such as birthday celebration, drama, classroom situations and outdoor play, the response rate 49

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of children with MR was much higher when compared to children with ASD. This age quite understandable and it is well documented that

children with ASD are hypersensitive and therefore try to avoid/withdraw in social situations. This could be a reason for their poor response rate.

Table-2: Comparison of total number of elicited response vs. no responses between the two groups (Autism & M.R.) Groups

Total no. of responses Total no. of response

Total no. of no response

Group1 (MR with Autism)

320

244

Group2 (MR)

320

289

Table-3: Comparison of elicited response between the two groups Groups Group1 (MR with Autism)

Total no. of

Chi-square (df=1)

p-value

stimuli

response

320

244

18.05

P<0.01. HS

320

289

3.0

p>0.01. NS

(N=10) Group2 (M R) (N=10)

(N=10)

HS=highly significant, NS- not Significant, Therefore it may be inferred from the table that the responses of children with MR towards various stimuli are significantly better than children with autism. (Chi-square values18.05, p>0.001, HS for ASD and 3.0, p<0.05, NS for MR). Therefore hypothesis -1(Stimulus type does not have a role in deciding the quality of responses given by children with ASD and children with MR) is accepted because whatever is the stimulus the positive response from children with MR was seen while poor response or no response was uniformly seen for all types of stimulus among children with ASD which significantly differ from children with MR. Discussion Result of the study accept the hypothesis - "There will not be any difference in the 50

responses of two groups of children when similar stimuli is presented". Although the statistical interpretation shows significant difference found only in case of three responses, but there was a significant numerical difference elicited in the response patterns of the two groups. Apart from the numerical differences; qualities of responses also differ between children with MR associated with ASD and children with MR who are not associated with ASD. The study also reveals that the number of unique and no responses towards almost all the stimuli are comparatively high in the response pattern of children with Autism. As it wa s proved long back t hat multisensory approach brings maximum outcome of learning in case of children with M.R. This study also presents similar results but

Ranjan / Responses towards various stimuli

in case of children with autism it reveals that apart from multisensory approach, the presence of visual stimuli significantly enhances the learning outcome. The outcome of present study also supported the findings by Thiemann and Goldstein (2002) that visual modality results higher rates of socially desirable com munication skills and improve conversation skills in children with autism spectrum disorder. Narayan & Srinivas (2007) also presented that visual cues are the best support to children with ASD to understand and utilize the environment optimally. According to Carpenteri and Morgan (1994) who compared children with mild M.R. and children with ASD and revealed that children with M.R. scored higher than children with ASD in verbal reasoning area towards the given stimuli. The present study also reveals that the numbers of verbal responses are

significantly high in case of children with MR who were not associated with ASD.The result of this study provides the direction to teachers working in the special educational setting. It suggests that a teacher should carefully select the activity and the mode of presenting items/ stimuli while teaching these two groups of children. In birthday celebration, very few children with Autism have clapped their hands(5) and said Happy Birthday (1), whereas many children with MR have given proper verbal response(5) by clapping their hands (9). When the balloon was given to play, only one child with ASD played cooperatively with others. One of them was even standing far away from the stimulus / balloon, On the other hand 8 out of 10 children with MR preferred to play cooperatively with other children (figure-1).

Figure-1: Frequency of responses on stimulus-5 (A big Balloon given to play)

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Again the video recording of the drama situation can be a better example where students were wearing animal costumes. Children with ASD have shown much repetitive behaviour, and screaming, whereas children with M.R. were very much enjoying the drama and calling the animals (elephant, dog, and monkey). They were even pointing towards the students who were in costumes. Some children with MR were also asking their peers sitting beside them to see the students in animal costumes during the drama. It shows that in such social situation if the activity is interesting children with MR usually participate and respond actively; whereas children with ASD may not respond or their responses are very limited in such social/group situations, which may not be socially accepted. The findings of this study also support the findings of the study conducted by Bacon (1998) that there is a high frequency of refusal

and no response in case of children with ASD when compared with M.R. Adanson O'Hare and Graham (2006) have also presented that more than 70% of children with ASD exhibited sensory modulation difficulties which interfere the expected responses. Bacon, Fein, Morris, Waterhouse and Allen (1998) found that children with ASD are less responsive in orienting to various stimuli when compared with normal and children with MR. The findings of this study accept the hypothesis that- "Stimulus type does not have a role in deciding the quality of response given by children with autism spectrum disorder and children with MR". Because whatever the stimulus is, more number of positive responses was seen from children with MR while poor response or no response was uniformly seen for all types of stimulus among children with ASD (figure-2).

Figure-2: Comparision of total number of elicited responses and no responses between the groups

Ranjan / Responses towards various stimuli



The number of socially appropriate / normal responses was observed more in case of children with M.R. compared to children with ASD.



The numbers of verbal responses were found significantly higher in case of children with mild mental retardation when compared to children with mild M.R. associated with ASD.

No two individuals in this world are similar and, there are individuals who are different from the normal in some aspects. By providing appropriate education and training to those individuals, they can be included into the normal society. Keenan (2006) mentioned that at the heart of any field lies an unquenchable thirst for new ways to understand the world in which we live and evidence of progress is found usually in developments at a conceptual level along with various innovations. From the last two decades professionals allover the world in the field of special education published many studies to investigate the facts about children with Autism spectrum disorders. The findings of this study may contribute in these directions based on following conclusions-



Less interest towards stimuli and more refusal/denial were found in case of children with autism in comparison to children with M.R.



The pointing behaviour for indicating the stimuli and peer group cooperation was almost absent in case of children with ASD compared to children with M.R.



The behaviour of smelling the object, keeping it in mouth, and inserting the fingers inside the holes of toys were only observed among response pattern of children with ASD.



Irrespective of the type of stimulus, the quality of responses of children with MR was found significantly better than children with ASD.



There was a difference found in the response pattern of children with mild MR associated with autism and children with Mild Mental retardation who were not associated with ASD when same stimuli were presented to both group.



The number of 'no response' was frequently found in case of children with ASD in comparison to children with M.R.



Variation in the quality of responses was observed more in case of autism spectrum disorder when compared to children with M.R

There is a need to conduct more studies on these populations with the help of video analysis which will help in analysis and interpretations of the response pattern of children with ASD. It is recommended that future studies should focus on In-depth studies with large samples exercising optimum possible validity control. Similar studies can be conducted on other population of disabilities like ADHD, Down's syndrome, and learning disability and response pattern of different groups can be compared which will definitely

It was also seen that the stimulus condition which is social in nature such as birthday celebration, drama, classroom situations and outdoor play, the response rate among children with MR was much higher when compared to children with ASD. Hence the number of 'no responses' are quite high in case of children with ASD. Conclusion of the study

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support the planning a lesson for the teacher of an inclusive classroom. Limitations of the study It is always better to select large sample for better outcomes and interpretation of study which can be generalized and interpreted easily on large population. In this study the sample size was only 20. Apart from this the children with ASD or M.R. with Motor (or) sensory impairments are not included on this study, so result of this study cannot be generalized on such populations. Another limitation could be psychological status of the participants which interferes the responses of the participants, where researcher may not be so competent to underst and psychological state of the participants while presentation of stimuli. The researcher has selected only 32 stimuli for this study, which may not be sufficient to elicit all types of responses in different situations. Only 8 type of stimuli (Visual, Auditory, Tactile, Olfactory, Gustatory (taste), Visual + auditory and Tactile + auditory) has been included in the tool; whereas other types of combinations of stimuli can be added for the better interpretation of the study. References Adamson, A., O'Hare, A., & Graham, C. (2006). Impa irments in sensory modulation in children with Autistic spectrum disorder. British Journal of occupational Therapy, 69 (8), 357 - 367. American Psychological Association (1990). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Associat ion (3rd ed.).Washington, DC: author. Bac on, A . L. , Fein, D. , Morris, B., Waterhouse.D., and & Allen., D. (1998). 54

The responses of autistic children to the distress of others. Journal of Autism and Developmental disabilities, 20(2).129142. Beling, D., Bloch, P., & Rosado, C (2000).Exceptional Child Educational Resources, The Council for Exceptional Children, 34(6), 143-151. Buch, M.B (1987). Third survey of Research in Education. New Delhi, National Council of Educational Research and Training. Carpentieri, S. C., Morgan, S. B. (1994) Brief report: A Comparison of patterns of cognitive functioning of autistic and non autistic retarded children on the standard - Binet (4th ed.), Journal of Autism and developmental disorders, 24 (2), 215223. Drew, C. J., Logan, D. R., Haudman, M. L. (1984) Mental Retardation: A Life Cycle approach. (4th ed.). Columbus. Merrill publishing company. Keenan, M.(2006). Empowering parents with scie nce. In Mickey Keenan, Mary Henderson, Ken P.Kerr and Karolo Dillenburger (Eds.). Applied behavioural analysis and Autism, Jessica Kingsley publishers, Pp. 18-52. Mercer, C.D., Mercer, A.R. (1993) Teaching students with hearing problems (4th Edn) New York. Macmillian Publishing Company. Pp.49-51. Narayan and Srinivas (2007).Educating Children with Autism Spectrum disorder, NIMH, Secunderabad

Ranjan / Responses towards various stimuli

Rogers, S. J., Hepburs, S., & Wehner, E. (2003). Parent reports of sensory symptoms in toddlers with Autism and those with other Developmental Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorder, 33(6). 266-273. Thiemann, K. S., & Goldstein, H.(2001). Social Stories, written text cues and video

feedback:Effect on social communication of children with autism. Journal of applied Behaviour analysis, 34(4), 425446. Westling, D.L., & Fosc, L. (1995). Teaching students with severe disabilities. New Jersey, Prentice - Hall.

When we hear the word â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;deafblindâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; it moves us, touches our very soul; our voices quiver with emotion, sympathy pours out from within, many a question appears in our mind. What is deafblindness? Who is a deafblind? To me, the deafblind person is like a blank paper that has in it, the potential to move the whole world for although in appearance, it seems as plain as it can be. After spending days, months with deafblind persons in HELLEN KELER INSTITUTE FOR DEAF AND DEAFBLIND, Mumbai, I have come to realize that all deafblind persons are not completely deaf and blind. The degree of impairment always depends upon the severity of the blindness and deafness. But most of all, what I have learnt is that mere theoretical excellence is nowhere sufficient when dealing with these wonderful members of our society. There is a need to unearth a precious mine of practical knowledge and experience if we truly wish to connect and be with them. I can confidently say that although I have always been a very happy person, my life has become ever more beautiful and meaningful with every passing day since I began working with them. Shared by Shruti Bobade (MEd; Special Education: Visual Impairment), FDMSE, RKMVU 55

Vol. 1. No. 1 January 2011

Journal of Disability Management and Special Education ISSN: 2229-5143

Effect of Self-Directed IEP on Development of Self Determination in Special Employees with Mild Mental Retardation *Hemant Keshwal **A. T. Thressiakutty

Abstract Self-Directed Individualized Education Programme (SDIEP) becomes a tool to teach the persons with mental retardation in developing self-determination skills which include personal management, community participation, recreation and leisure time, choice making and problem solving. In the present study five special employees with mild mental retardation working at the National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped, Secunderabad, were taken as a sample. Self Determination Scale for Adults with Mental Retardation (SDSAMR), a selfadministered check list was used to assess the level of self determination in the said sample. Each subject selected three objectives and intervention was given for 10 sessions. SDIEP meeting was organized so that subjects can discuss about their goals and methodology. The results indicated that on comparing the mean scores on SDSMR there has been positive change on all the domains. The pre and post test mean scores of the three objectives of the group have increased from 54.2 to 113.6 with the t-value of 18.4 which is highly significant. The result reveals that SDIEP is very effective on developing self determination skills in special employees with mild mental retardation. Key terms: Self determination, Self-directed IEP, Mental retardation, Special employees

Introduction The purpose of education for all students with and without mental retardation is preparation for adulthood. If youth with disabilities are to adequately prepared with maximum opportunities for self-determination in adulthood they need to be equipped with the knowledge, beliefs and skills that lead to self-determination in their educational programmes (Field & Hoffman, 2002). Selfdetermination is a concept reflecting the belief that individuals have the right to direct their own lives. Students with mental retardation

who have self-determination skills have stronger chances of being successful in making the tra nsition t o adulthood including employment and independence (Wehmeyer & Schawartz, 1997). A self- determined person sets goals, makes decisions, sees options, solves problems, speaks up for himself, understands what supports are needed for success and knows how to evaluate outcomes (Martin & Marshal, 1996). The opportunities to make choices express preferences, experience control over outcomes, take risks and assume responsibility for personal actions are highly prized by most people.

*Hemant Keshwal, Special Educator, State Institute for the Mentally Handicapped, Chandigarh **A. T. Thressiakutty, Professor, RKMVU, Coimbatore, kutty1942@yahoo.com

Keshwal & Thressiakutty / Self-Discreted IEP and Self Determination

Researchers suggested that individuals with higher level of self-determination are more independent and have a better quality of life. It also enhances their performance in academic areas as well. During the past decade selfdetermination has emerged as an important concept in education, progress and service delivery for persons with disabilities. It has been felt that training in post school programmes will further help in transition process and thus results in successful placement of persons with mental retardation.

on IEP meeting participation of four high school students with moderate mental retardation. The results indicate that student involvement in IEP meetings increased after using an adjusted format of the self-directed IEP instructional plan. Give n that the researchers used a modified version of the selfdirected IEP, they suggested future research to determine the effectiveness of using all 10 steps of self-directed IEP instructional plan.

Working on IEP goals throughout the year.

Mart in et al (2006) examined the effectiveness of the self-directed IEP to teach IEP meeting skills. One hundred and thirty secondary students were randomly assigned to treatment or control group. Observation of 130 meetings and 764 IEP team members were recorded using 10-s momentary time sampling to determine the percentage of team members talked and the percentage of time discussed transition. The study reveals that after being taught the self-directed IEP lessons, students with learning disabilities, emotional problems, and mental retardation attended more IEP meetings; increased their active participation in their IEP meeting; engaged in IEP leadership behaviours; expressed their interests, skills, and limits across transition areas; and remembered IEP goals after the meetings ended. Lastly, the post school vision section in the IEP document of students who received self-directed IEP instruction included more comprehensive post school transition statements than similar statements of students who did not receive the self-directed IEP instruction.

There is an emerging research base supporting the effectiveness of the self-directed IEP. For example, Allen et al (2001) conducted a study to demonstrate the effects of a modified version of the self-directed IEP lesson package

Sweeney (1997) used a nonequivalent group design to determine if instruction with the self-directed IEP increased student attendance, student reporting of IEP goals, and student involvement in the IEP meeting. He

The term self-directed IEP refers to the Individualized Education Programme which intends to promote active participation of the student with mental retardation in the areas of assessment, planning, intervention and evaluation to develop the self-determination skills. He is being given full opportunity to take the init iative in all the a bove stages. Components of self-directed IEP are: i.

Begin meeting by stating purpose.

ii.

Introduce everyone.

iii. Review past goal and performance. iv.

State your transition goals.

Ask questions if you don't understand.

vi. Deal with differences in opinion. vii. State the support you will need. viii. Summarize goals. ix. Close meeting by thanking everyone. x.

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grouped students with different disabilities by severity (mild or moderate) and conditions (intervention n = 54, control n = 15). Compared to teacher-directed meetings, students who were taught the self-directed IEP attended significantly more IEP meetings, had significantly higher level of involvement in their IEP meetings and knew significantly more goals after the meetings ended. Allen et al (2001) used a multiple baseline design to determine if the self-directed IEP increased participation in IEP meetings by four students with mental retardation. Students learned to lead their meetings by stating the purpose, introducing everyone, reviewing past goals and performance and closing the meetings. They also expressed their transition interest, skills and stated their goals. Dyce (2005) found that the written IEP documents of students who received selfdirected IEP instruction in a randomly assigned study contained more comprehensive vision statements and more employment and independent living outcome statements than those of students who had teacher-directed IEP meetings. Sandra et al (2006) studied the effect of self-directed IEP on student participation in planning meetings. This study used the selfdirected IEP with five students identified with a variety of disabilities to increase participation in their IEP meetings. The results indicated a functional re lationship bet ween the implementation of the self-directed IEP and increased student participation in IEP meetings. Furthermore, students were able to generalize their newly acquired skills to their real IEP meetings. 58

Reviewing various research articles by different researchers it seems that there is not much research have been conducted on "the effect of self-directed IEP on developing selfdetermination in special employees with mild mental retardation". No study conducted in India was available on the said topic. The review of related literature reveals that self determination skills can be more effectively developed through self-directed IEP in persons with mental retardation. Need and objective of study: Individualized Education Programme (IEP) becomes an integral part of training children with mental retardation. Traditionally over the years the children with mental ret ardat ion has been a par t of IEP multidisciplinary team but as a passive member. Their involvement in assessment, selection of goals, programme planning, intervention and evaluation is negligible or minimal. In India, currently self directed IEP is not in practice, where as in the west this concept has been practiced over a decade which has resulted in developing self determination skills in persons with mental retardation. There has not been much done in India on this concept. Therefore the researcher found a need to introduce this concept, if it is found practical this can be introduced in India for developing self determination skills in persons with mental retardation. Therefore the objective of the study was to find out the effectiveness of Self Directed IEP (SDI EP) in de veloping the self determination skills in special employees with mild mental retardation.

Keshwal & Thressiakutty / Self-Discreted IEP and Self Determination

Methodology

Handicapped (NIMH). Five special employees

Single group experimental method was used to examine the effect of self-directed IEP in developing the self-determination skills in special employees with mild mental retardation working at the National Institute for Mentally

with mild mental retardation, 4 males and one female, age range between 23-30 years, placed at NIMH, Secunderabad, were selected for the study through purposive sampling. All the subjects had a job experience from 3-7 years.

Table.1 Sample Design Sl.no

Subjects

Age:yrs

Gender

Work experience:

SES

S.R

male

6 yrs

Upper class

A.R

male

3 yrs

Upper class

U.R

female

3 yrs

Lower class

M.A

male

6 yrs

Middle class

R.K

male

7 yrs

Upper class

Table: 1 depicts age, gender, IQ, SES, and work experience wise distribution of the sample selected for the study. Instrumentation Self-determination is relatively a new concept in India. The researcher reviewed few scales for the assessment of self determination developed by researchers in the US. During the time of this study, no such scale was available to measure self-determination level of persons with mental retardation in India. When reviewed the available scales, it was felt that they are not relevant in Indian conditions. Hence the need was felt to develop a scale for measuring self-determination skills in adults with mental retardation. The scale developed to measure selfdetermination is titled "Self-Determination Scale for Adults with Mental Retardation" (SDSAMR). It is a self -administered scale by the adults with mental retardation. The items for the scale were pooled by referring similar scales by examining their applicability in Indian

conditions, consulting the specialist/experts of the field including persons with mental retardation. From 70 items, the number of items was reduced to 41 by considering its functional applicability towards independent living. Language used was simple, direct and addressed in first person. Items were made selfexplanatory and all precautions were taken to minimize/ rule out regional or cultural bias. The tool with 41 items, spread in five domains was given for validation to 10 qualified and experienced professionals from the field of special education. They were asked to give their comments and tick the most appropriate, appropriate and not appropriate items. The feedback from each professional was analyzed and only those items were selected which had 80% acceptability and their comments were also noted. The final scale has 5 domains and 59

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36 items arranged in the order: personal managem ent - 12 item s; community participation-6 items; recreation & leisure time6 items; choice making-6 items; and problem solving-6 items. This scale is administered by the adults with mental retardation. There is a provision of assistance by the administrator to read out the items by quoting examples in order to facilitate the client make the right choice if the client is having reading or understanding problems. The scale serves not only as an assessment tool but also as an instructional and communication tool. As an instructional tool this scale helps the vocational instructor or the special educator in developing Individualized Voc ational Transition Pla n (IV TP) for individuals with mental retardation. As a communication tool it can serve as a recording device which would help to display his/her progress and communicate this information to all the concerned team members of IVTP.

mental retardation. It is important for the administrator to check the current level in functional academics and communication so that appropriate assistance can be provided to the subjects while administering the tool. The tool administrator must keep extra precaution to ensure that the subject understood the item correctly and ticked the right column. SDSAMR has 5 domains, the first four domains (personal management, community participation, recreation & leisure time and choice Making) have five choices expressed in terms of 'stars' ; 4 stars for always; 3 stars for most of the times; 2 stars for sometimes; 1 star for rarely or with assistance and no stars for no exposure. In the fifth domain (problem solving) four options are provided in a hierarchical order. The first option has a score of 4, second option has a sore of 3, third option has a score of 2 and fourth option has a score of 1. The scoring was done domain-wise as well as the sum of all the five domains.

Pilot Study:

Intervention and data collection:

During the validation of the tool there were cer tain appre hensions raise d by the professionals on self administration of the tool. Hence a pilot study was conducted on ten special employees placed at NIMH, excluding the sample selected for the present study, to assess the self-determination skills. The test results revealed that all the subjects did not face any difficulty in administering the tool. All the subjects were familiar with the items and did not find difficulty in understanding the test instructions and items.

The subject plays the lead role in SDIEP and the teacher /researcher perform the role of facilitator or guide. The subjects are actively involved in all the components of SDIEP i.e. assessme nt, select ion of objectives, intervention and evaluation. SDSAMR checklist was used for assessment of selfdetermination skills. All the 5 subjects administered the scale on themselves. The researcher verified each item in order to check if they have properly understood the item and marked properly. After the administration of the checklist objectives were selected by the subjects by themselves. As SDIEP is a new

SDSAMR is a self -administered checklist to assess the self-determination in adults with 60

Keshwal & Thressiakutty / Self-Discreted IEP and Self Determination

concept, the need was felt to orient the subjects on various components of SDIEP. Objective number 1 and 2 were selected so that the subjects can effectively and efficiently work on planning and developing their IEP. The objective no. 3 was selected by the subjects

based on their performance on the SDSAMR checklist, domain-wise items were listed where the subject did not perform adequately and objective was selected by the subject with the help of the researcher.

Table 2: The objectives selected for the subjects for self directed IEP: No

Subjects

IEP:1

IEP:2

IEP:3

about myself

participating in IEP meeting

planning to go for a movie

about myself

Participating in IEP meeting

Planning to go for a movie

about myself

Participating in IEP meeting

managing bank account

about myself

Participating in IEP meeting

managing bank account

About myself

Participating in IEP meeting

selecting gift articles & greeting card

Three objectives were selected for all the five subjects. Before starting the intervention, a group meeting was organized to take the consent of the parents and to involve them in the intervention programme. Intervention was given for 10 sessions to all the subjects on the selected lesson. The entry level on the SDSAMR checklist was taken as the baseline for the particular activity. Each subject was taught individually for one hour for 10 sessions using worksheets, practical exposures (on- site training) and home based assignments. Task analysis and recording sheets were prepared to record the session-wise progress. Out of the three objectives planned, objectives 1 & 2 were same for all the subjects. SDIEP: Objective 1: The first objective, 'about myself" was selected by all the subjects. This lesson includes the information about self i.e. name, age, date of birth, address, about his work place, type of work, hobbies, father's name and

occupation, mother's name and occupation, information about siblings and other relatives staying with the family. All the subjects were explained and asked to collect the desired information. They were given worksheets and taught how to fill in it. The worksheet has the provision to paste some pict ures and photographs on the above mentioned items for which they were asked to take the support of the family. The pre & post test scores of their performances were compared. SDIEP: Objective 2: When the procedures of IEP meetings were explained, the subjects wanted to learn how to participate in the IEP meeting. The refore the sec ond objec tive was 'participation in Self-Directed Individualized Education Programme Meeting' (SDIEP). As the subjects played an important role in assessment, planning and evaluation process in SDIEP, the need was felt to select the skill so that subjects can actively participate in the IEP 61

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meetings and advocate for their needs. The SDIEP format included information about self (demographic data), strengths, weaknesses, skills previously learnt, annual goals, purpose of learning, reinforcement desired, support needed and discussion on IEP. The subjects were taught to present themselves and put forward their IEP in front of the IEP team. Tasks analysis of the activity was done and the progress was noted after each session. The pre & post test scores of their performances were compared. SDIEP: Objective 3: The third objective was selected from the specific domain where the subject was not performing the skill adequately. The subjects were asked to go through their ratings and select an item, which had less score. Different objectives were selected by each subject. The subjects were guided to learn the skills using worksheets, formats and practical exposures. Task analysis of each skill was done. Their session wise performance was recorded and pre and post test scores were compared. SDIEP Meeting: Self-directed IEP meetings were held before and after the intervention programme. In the post intervention IEP meeting was organized and parents of all the subjects were

invited to discuss the progress. The subjects played a central role to present his/her IEP. They discussed their strengths, weakness, skills learnt, future goals, reinforcement chosen, and support required for learning the skills. A meeting of all the subjects was organized to decide the agenda of the SDIEP meeting. All the subjects participated actively in organizing, IEP presenta tions, discussions and refreshments. Their individual performance was evaluated by a self-administered checklist on SDIEP after the meeting. For evaluation of achievement in self-determination the subjects administered the SDSAMR on themselves after the intervention of 10 sessions. The data obtained from the study were computed and data analysis was done using SPSS. The permission from the parents was sought before starting the study Results and Discussion All the five subjects taken up for the study have successfully completed the intervention. The analysis of data reveals that there is a positive effect of self-directed IEP on self determination in individuals with mild mental retardation. SDIEP has proved to be an effective tool in teaching self-determination skills to special employees with mild mental retardation.

Table. 3 Domain-wise Comparison of Mean scores of Pre & Post tests on SDSAMR of all Subjects PM

R&L

Total

Pre Test

35.2

17.8

13.6

17.4

19.4

103.4

Post Test

18.6

16.6

20.8

20.4

115.2

t- value

2.3

1.6

2.2

1.9

3.1

2.5

The pre and post test comparison of mean scores as depicted on table 3 on SDSAMR scale 62

of all the five subjects, show that in Personal Management (PM) the pre test mean score was

Keshwal & Thressiakutty / Self-Discreted IEP and Self Determination

35.2 and post test mean score was 39.00 and t-value was 2.3, the gain of 2.8 points reveals that there is some progress in most of the subjects in this domain. In Community Participation (CP) the pre test mean score was 17.8 and post test mean score was 18.6 and the t-value was 1.6, shows the gain of 0.8 points, but in Recreation and Leisure time (R &L) the pre test mean score was 13.6 and post test mean score was 16.6 and t-value was 2.2, shows the gain of 3 points. It was also observed from the pre test scores that performance of the group in recreation and leisure time domain was the lowest which reveals that the special employees do not get adequate opportunities for recreation and leisure time. The gain of 3 points indicates the impact of training in this domain.

Figure 1 shows comparison of pre & post mean score of the group mean scores of all the three objectives. It reveals that the pre-test mean scores on objective 1 was 18.6 and post test mean score was 30.2 and the t-value was 17.1 which is highly significant, in objective 2

In Choice Making, the pre test mean score was 17.4 and post test mean score was 20.8 and t- value on this domain was 1.9, the gain of 3.4 points indicates the positive impact of training in this area. In Problem Solving domain (PS) the pre test mean score was 19.4 and post test mean score was 20.4 and t-value was 3.1, which shows the gain of 1 point. The pre test mean score of all the domains was 103.4 and post test mean score of all the domains was 115.2 and t-value calculated was 2.5. The overall gain of mean was of 11 points may not be significant but indicates that teaching through SDIEP has some impact in all the domains. Hence the results reveal the positive effect of SDIEP on developing self determination in special employees with mild mental retardation and the t-value 3.1 is significant.

the pre test mean score was 20.8 and post test mean score was 45.8 and the t-value was 17.6 which is highly significant, the pre test mean score of the third objective was 14.6 and post test mean score was 39.6 and the t-value was 8.3 which is also highly significant. 63

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The group pre test mean score of all the three objectives was 54.2 and post test mean score was 113.6 and t-value calculated was 18.4 which is highly significant. The result indicates that all the subjects learnt the lessons with more than 80 % accuracy after the end of 10 sessions. This also signifies that teaching through SDIEP has proved to be very effective

in developing self-determination among special employees with mild mental retardation. Subject 1: The session-wise comparison of all the three objectives is shown on figure 2 which indicates that the achievement of subject S.R in all the 3 objectives.

Figure 2 Session-wise scores of subject S.R. on 3 objectives 100 90 80 70

60 50 40 30 20

OB1

OB2

Sessions

In the first objective - about myself, the pre test scores was 65.5 and the post test scores was 93.7 which shows a gain of 28.7%. In the

OB3

Po 1 st 0 Te st

Pr e

Te st

second objective,' participating in SDIEP', the pre test score of the subject was 32.6% has increased to 90.3% shows a gain of 57.7%. In

Figure 3 Session-wise scores of subject A.R. on 3 objectives 100 90 80 70

60 50 40 30 20

OB1

OB2 es t

Sessions

Po s

Pr e

Te st

OB3

Keshwal & Thressiakutty / Self-Discreted IEP and Self Determination

the third objective- 'planning to go for movie' the pre test score was 34% and post test score was 90.9%, showing a gain of 56.9. The pre & post scores reveal that S.R has learnt most of the tasks mentioned in all the three objectives.

1 'about myself' the pre test score was 53.1% and post test score was 90.6%, showing a gain of 37.5%. In objective no. 2 'Participating in the meeting', his pre test score 48% and post test score 92.3%, shows the gain of 44.3 % and the third objective, 'Planning to go for a movie' his was 90.9%, shows the gain of 72.6%. The result reveals that the subject AR has achieved in all the domains.

Subject 2 The figure 3 shows the session-wise scores of objectives 1-3 of the subject AR. In objective

Figure 4 Session-wise progress of subject UR on 3 Objectives 100 90 80 70

60 50 40 30 20

OB1

OB2 OB3

t es eT

Sessions

10 st Po

st Te

Subject 3

Subject 4

The figure 4 shows the session-wise scores of objectives 1-3 of the subject UR. In objective 1 'about myself', the pre test score was 56.21% and post test score was 93.7% showing a gain of 37.5%. In objective no. 2 'participating in the meeting', her pre test score was 40.3% and post test score was 90.3% showing a gain of 50% which signifies that she has successfully learnt most of the tasks of the objectives and the third objective,' 'managing bank account', her pre test score was 28.5% and post test scores was 78.5% showing a gain of 50% but not mastered the skill.

The figure 5 shows the session-wise scores of objectives 1-3 of the subject MA. In objective 1,' about myself 'the pre test scores was 59.3% and post- test scores was 96.8% showing a gain of 39.5% which shows that the subject has mastered most of the tasks in this objective. In objective no. 2, 'participating in meeting', his pre test scores was 36.5% and post test scores was 82.6%, showing a gain of 46.1%, which indicates that the subject has learnt most of the tasks of this objective. The third objective, 'managing his bank account' the pre test scores was 39.2% and post test score was 65

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Journal of Disability Management and Special Education Figure 5

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

OB1 OB2

Sessions

95% showing a gain of 55.8%. The result reveals that the subject MA has mastered most of the tasks related to this objective. Subject 5 Figure 6 shows the session-wise scores of objectives 1-3 of the subject RK. In objective 1

10 Po st Te st

OB3

Pr eT es t

Session-wise progress of subject UR on 3 Objectives

'about myself', the pre test score was 56.2% and post test score was 96.8% showing a gain of 40.6%, which indicates that the subject has learnt most of the tasks in this objective. In objective no. 2, 'participating in the meeting', his pre test score was 42.3% and post test

Figure 6 Session-wise of subject MA on 3 objectives 100 OB1

OB2

OB3

40 20

scores was 84.6%, showing a gain of 42.3%, indicates that the subject has learnt most of the tasks of the objective. In the third objective, 'selecting a gift and greeting others', his pre test 66

es t

Ses sions

Po st T

Te st

score was 32.1% and post test scores was 82.1%, showing a gain of 50% which signifies that the subject has learnt most of the tasks related to objective.

Keshwal & Thressiakutty / Self-Discreted IEP and Self Determination

Self Directed IEP Meeting After the end of training sessions SDIEP meeting was organized where all the subjects along with their parents, the researcher and the guide participated. The meeting was organized and coordinated by the students. The agenda was decided by the subjects and compared by one of the subject. All the subjects presented their SDIEP which includes presenting about themselves, their strengths and weaknesses, what they have learnt, what they want to learn, support and reinforcement needed. After successful completion of the meeting the subjects arranged refreshments. The study reveals that self-directed IEP is effective in developing self-determination skills in special employees with mild mental retardation. They can play more active role in deciding what they want to learn, how they want to learn and what support they need to learn. It was also observed that the students are highly motivated during the training sessions. The subjects played a lead role in the process of assessment, selection of goals, intervention and evaluation. They understood the need of self determination in their day to day life. Martin et al (2006) examined the effectiveness of self directed IEP to teach IEP meeting skills. The results revealed that the self-directed IEP is more effective in teaching IEP meeting skills. The need to instruct the students on how to participate in their IEP meetings as a way to learn crucial selfdetermination skills including self-advocacy, goal setting, self-evaluation and adjustment. The results of this study also indicate towards the effectiveness of SDIEP on persons with mental retardation. Major Findings.  There is a positive impact of SDIEP on all subjects in developing the self

determination skills. As reflected in the mean score of pre test (103.4) and post test (115.2), the gain of 11.8 points indicates towards the development of selfdetermination skills. 

Adults with mild mental retardation learn faster through SDIEP and are self motivated while learning. As indicated by the pre test (54.2) and post test (113.6.) mean scores of three objectives, the gain of 59.4 and the t-value of 18.4 reveals that it is highly significant.



SDIEP gives an opportunity to the trainee to express what he wants to learn and why he wants to learn and how he would like to learn.



The special employees are in need of training in self determination in order to lead an independent life with purpose and dignity.



On administering the SDSAMR checklist it was observed that special employees do not get adequate opportunities for recreation and leisure time as the mean scores in recreation and leisure time domain was the lowest.



The succ essful organiza tion and presenting their IEP in the SDIEP meeting highlights the ability to advocate for themselves and their organizational capabilities.



The special employees with mild mental retardation can plan for future and has ability of organizing an event.



The subjects were aware of their deficits and showed interest to le arn and overcome the deficits.



Although the special employees did not get formal training in many day to day

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activities they acquired it from the environment and daily experiences. ď ˇ

The results indicate that if training in self determination is given at the vocational transition stage it would help in better job placement and social adjustment. The study was conducted in terms of the objectives set. The hypothesis was that the re would be an eff ect on se lfdetermination skill among individuals with mild mental retardation who are taught through self-directed IEP. There is a significant difference between pre & post test mean scores, hence the hypothesis is accepted.

When look at the limitations of the study, the sample size was small; the duration was very short and control group was not included. There is a great scope for future research to conduct the study on a large sample from prevocational students with mild mental retardation with control group to generalize the result and creating greater awareness among professionals and parents. Conclusion This study is the first of its kind in India. It throws light on the effect of self directed IEP on developing self determination in special employees with mild mental retardation. The research focuses on how SDIEP can be made useful in developing self-determination skills like personal management, choice making, problem solving and community participation in order to enhance social integration and job retention, a major problem faced by most of the adults with mental retardation. With the introduction of SDIEP the participation of the individual with mental retardation would improve in the teaching learning process. The positive outcome of the present study is 68

expected to create awareness among the professionals and parents and to bring this new trend into practice in the larger interest of persons with mental retardation. Reference: Arndt, S.A., Konrad, M. & Test, D.W. (2006). Effects of the Self-Directed IEP on Student Participation in Planning Meetings. Remedial & Special Education 27 (4) 194-207 Bala, J. M. & Rao, D. B. (2004). Methods of Teaching Exceptional Children. Discovery Publishing House, New Delhi. Fie ld, S. (1996). Self-Deter minat ion Instructional Strategies for Youth with Learning Disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities. 29 (1), 40-52. Heward, W. L. (2006). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education 8th edition. Hickson, L.; Blackman, L. S. & Reis, E. M. (1995). Mental Retardation Foundation of Educational Programming. Allayan & Backon; 160 Gould St. Ne edham Heights, M.A. USA. Martin, J.E., Mithaug, D.E., Cox, P.; Peterson, L.Y.; Vandycke, J.L. & Cash, M.E. (2003). Increasing Self-Determination: Teaching Students to Plan, Work, Eva luate , & A djust . Council for Exc eptional Children. 69 (4) 431-447. Narayan, J. & Thressiakutty, A.T. (1989). Handbook of Trainers for Mentally Retarded Persons. NIMH Publication, Secunderabad Panda, K.C. (1997). Education of Exceptional Children. Vikas Publishing House. New Delhi.

Keshwal & Thressiakutty / Self-Discreted IEP and Self Determination

Reddy, S.H.K. & Narayan, J (2008), Research in Mental Retardation in India, NIMH, Secunderabad

Succ ess. Education & Training in Developmental Disabilities. 40 (3) 234242.

Reynolds, C. R. (2000). Encyclopedia of Special Education. John Wiley & Sons, 605, third Avenue NY USA. 2 : 1171.

Wehmeyer, M. L. & Palmer, S. B. (2003). Adult Outcomes for Students with Cognitive Disabilities Three-Years After High School: The Im pact of Se lfDetermination. Educationa and Training in Developmental Disabilities. 38 (2), 131-144.

Schloss, P. J., Alper, S. & Jayne, D. (1993). Self-Determination for Persons with Disabilities: Choice, Risk, and Dignity. Exceptional Children. 60 (3) 215-225. Schalock, R. L., Luckasson, R A., Shogre.D, A. (2007). Perspectives The Renaming of Mental Retardation: Understanding the Change to the Term Intellectual Disability. Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities 45 (2) 116-124. Shogren, K. A., Wehmeyer, M. L., Palmer, S.B., Little, T. D., Gardner, N. & Lawrence, M. (2007). Examining Individual and Ecologic al Predic tors of t he Se lfDet ermination of Stude nts with Disabilities. Exceptional Children. 73 (4), 488-509. Smith, T. L., Polloway, E.A., Smith, J. D. & Patton, J. R. (2007). Self-Determination for Persons with Developmental Disabilities: Ethical Considerations for Teachers. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities. 42 (2), 144-151. Smith, E.C. Polloway, E.A., Patton, J. R. & Dowdy, C. A. (2006). Teaching Students with Special Needs in Inclusive Settings IDEA 2004 Updates. IV Edn. Allyn & Bacon. Pp. 4-5 & 244-247 Thoma, C. A. & Getzel, E. E. (2005). "Selfdetermination is what it's all about": What Post-Secondary Students with Disabilities Tell us are Important Considerations for

Wehmeyer, M. L & Bolding, N. (1999). SelfDet ermination Across Living and Working Environments: A Matched Samples Study of Adults With Mental Retardation. Mental Retardation (Oct. 1999) Wehmeyer, M. L. (1992). Self-Determination and the Education of Students with mental Retardation. Education & Training in Mental Retardation 27 (2) 302-314. Wehmeyer, M.L. (2001). Self-Determination and Mental Retardation. International Review of Re search in Mental Retardation. Vol. 24, 1-48. Wehmeyer, M.L., Martin, J. E. & Sands, D. J. Best & Promising Pract ices in Developmenta l Disabilitie s; Self Determination Pro-ed, 8700 School Creek Boulevard, Austin Texas. pp 191203. Internet references: www.transitioncoalition.org www.sopriswest.com w ww. w e b. uc s . e du / e d u c a t i o n/ sp e c i a l / self_determination www.airselfdetermination.org 69

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Significance of Outdoor Activities in Educating Persons with Deafblindness *B. Leelavathi, Vijayalakshimi and D.S.A. Regan

Abstract Outdoor activities are the most important force to boost the quality of training for persons with deafblindness. This real experience provides an opportunity for children with special needs to express their emotions in various observable forms of behaviors and transfer of learnt skills in new situations. One such study was carried out in the unit of deafblind, National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD), Chennai. 15 persons diagnosed as deafblind along with their parents participated in the outdoor activities in a nearby garden which contains swimming pool, bird's cage, flower garden, and aquarium. It is seen that exposure to outdoor activities provide a need and drive among persons with deafblindness to express their ideas, feelings and emotions in different manners. Similarly this type of learning provided an opportunity for applying the learnt skills in new life situations. Learning through outdoor activities also gave an insight among the accompanied parents, teachers and student trainers an actual representation for understanding the hidden abilities of persons with deafblindness and paved a path for better instruction. Key terms: Outdoor activities, Children with deafblindness

Introduction Learning concepts is diverse for each individual with special needs; whereas for persons with deafblindness it is entirely unique. It is defined as any relatively permanent changes in an individual which results from experiences (Woodworth, 2004). Among persons with special needs deafblindness is a very rare disability with specific set of characteristics and developmental pattern. It is a dual sensory impairment affecting hearing and vision in varying degree causing difficulty in communication, gathering information, orientation and mobility. The causes for this

unique condition can be congenital or acquired and can be associated with cerebral palsy, mental retardation, learning disability and autism. Most of the time, these children are lonely, unable to communicate their needs and exhibit self stimulatory behaviors. They are scared to move from one place to another place. These characteristics make a significant impact on the formation of early parent-child relationships, communication, cognition, motor, perceptual, social and emotional development (Murdoch, 2005). Teaching persons with deafblindness is a challenging task; most of the information is

*Lecturer in Deafblind, National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD) e-mail: leelaniepmd@gmail.com The author acknowledges the contribution of R. Anandha Krishnan

Leelavathi et al / Outdoor Activities for Persons with Deafblinds

received through touch, smell and residual senses. So there is a need to teach concepts with the help of real objects in meaningful situations (Narayan, 2005). Consistent routines within existing resource need to be provided with novel experience from various situations in the environments, where they can move freely by expressing their emotions and feelings. Hence these experiences must be planned to facilitate the acquisition of near normal experience acquired by sighted children through vision (Sinha, 2004). As part of individualized educational programme, outdoor activities were planned for persons attending deafblind unit at NIEPMD, Chennai. These activities were planned for generalization of learnt skills in secure environments, which give pleasure to feel the real life situation and expression of emotions in their known way. This method of teaching or learning concepts helps the teacher and family members to understand the students in holistic way. Emotions are necessary part of every individual, where wellbeing is developed in a right way. Among persons with deafblindness, teaching them to express and control their emotions is an essential aspect for suitable development. The expression of positive emotions produces optimal functioning not only within the present situation but over long term as well. Keeping this in view outdoor activities were planned in a scientific manner for application of learnt skills and expression of emotions (Swami, 2008).

ii.

Methodology: The outdoor activities were planned in a garden situated near the institute premises. This garden contains swimming pool, bird's cage, flower garden and aquarium. Well in advance all the family members were informed about the activities schedule for the day. All the parents along with the children reported to the deafblind unit on the scheduled day. School van was used as a means of transport. The above activity was scheduled in the forenoon session from 10.00am to 2.00pm. All the members were clearly explained about their responsibilities and safety measures to be taken during the outdoor activities. Subjects: The subjects taken for the study were undergoing special education training in deafblind unit. 15 children with deafblindness of various severity levels were selected for the outdoor activities. Parents of the selected subjects also participated in the outdoor activities. In addition to these teachers of deafblind unit and student trainees undergoing training in diploma in deafblind took part. The details of the subjects are described in table 1. Table1: Shows the details of subjects took part in the outdoor activities Subjects

The main objectives of the study were: i.

to examine the ability to transfer and apply the knowledge in other life situations among persons with deafblindness.

to find out the outcome of outdoor activities in expression of emotions among persons with deafblindness 71

0-6 years

7-12 years

13-18 years

Total years

Male

Female

Total

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Procedure: Preparatory programme for the outdoor activities was initially carried out in the classroom by the teacher. Orientation about the essential daily living skills was given to the identified persons with deafblindness. The classroom activities included skills to move safely using available facilities and resources. Need based activities and functional learning methods were taught to the target group in the classroom. Similarly the place chosen for the outdoor activities was the garden situated near the institute premises. In the selected place children were able to move freely on their own and with help of wheel chairs and canes. In

addition children were able to walk or move on different settings using their learned mobility skills. In an integrated manner outdoor activities were provided with the help of teacher, parents and student trainees. Results: The above study was carried out to find out the effect of outdoor activities on expression of emotions and transfer of learnt skills. All this activities were carried out in the garden. To the possible extent children with deafblindness were provided with natural experiences in different settings. The various emotions and the corresponding observed behavior among the children were shown in table 2.

Table 2: shows the emotions and observed behavior among the subjects. Sl.No

Emotion

Observed behavior

Confusion

Not walking freely, Waiting for response from teacher

Insecure

holding mother's hand, coming near to the teacher waiting for others help, asking assistance

Fear

looking around the place, walking slowly refuse to enter into water, fear of different noises

Eagerness

walking around the swimming pool tapping the water using hands and legs

Excitement

playing in the small pool independently playing in larger pool with help of teacher and parent

Enjoyment

feel free to touch water and walls feeling of well being, feeling of vibration

Happiness

playing in the water, coming out and going in the water, walking around the pool with wet clothes and more

It was observed from the above table, persons with deafblindness, on exposure to various new environmental settings, exhibit dif fere nt em otions such a s confusion, insecurity, fear, eagerness, excitement, enjoyment and happiness. All these emotions were expressed in various forms according to 72

the situation. This correlates with the findings of Karndad, 2009 where swimming is used as an activity for individuals who are visually impaired with additional disabilities. Water is used as a medium to aid the range of motions, muscle strength, balance, stability, and locomotion and socialization skills. Some of

Leelavathi et al / Outdoor Activities for Persons with Deafblinds

the behaviors observed were watching birds cage with lot of excitement and joy. Other observed behaviors were clapping their hands by seeing the water, a sense of feeling in touching the new texture on the wall and floor, refusal to enter into the water, fear of new places and seeking the assistance of others to enter into the water and new area. The above expressions of behavior clearly indicate the hidden emotions am ong childre n with deafblindness and the need to expose them to different conditions for optimal development and better understanding. These findings correlate with research conducted by (Swami, 2008) showing positive emotions produce optimal functioning not just within the present living but over the long term as well. The second objective of the study was to find the ability to transfer and generalize the acquired knowledge in new environment by children with deafblindness. This transfer of knowledge was mainly observed in orientation and mobility activities as seen in table 3. Table 3: shows behavior observed during orientation and mobility activities Sl. Behavior observed No 1

walks on slope

walks on hard and smooth surface

identifies different textures (road, grass, smooth and rough textures

climbs up-down on steps

walks in narrow as well as wide space

holds bars for safety walking

walks safely around the pool using wet/dry clue

Earlier research shows children with spe cial needs are to be given m ore opportunities to transfe r the acquired knowledge in various environments for better generalization of learnt concepts. Such approach of learning will help children with deafblindness to familiarize themselves for effective living. Table 3 indicates the approach in which children with deafblindness had effectively transferred the mobility and orientation skills learnt in the classroom to the outdoor activities. Some of the transferred skills among the subjects were ability to walk on slopes, hard and smooth surfaces, identification of different textures, use of staircase, parallel bar and while walking around the water. It is evident from the above table that children with deafblindness have the ability to apply the lea rnt skills in a give n environm ent meaningfully as reported in the study (Srinivasulu, 2005). Discussion: Persons with deafblindness have unique way to express their needs and require lot of skills for a new person to understand. This study reveals outdoor activities provide better opportunities for children with deafblindness to express their feelings and makes the family members or professionals to understand in a healthier way for enhanced rehabilitation. It also helped to observe the need to teach children with deafblindness with real objects and activities for precise learning. Thus outdoor activities provide a platform for teaching abstract concepts through multi sensory stimulation and suitable strategies among children with special needs. It also provides an opportunity for generalization of learnt skills such as orientation and mobility techniques, 73

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travelling skills and social skills that are used in day to day living. This method of teaching paved a mode for the accompanied parents and student trainees about the effectiveness of outdoor learning. Parents not only learnt new way of teaching but excited to see the talents, emotions and common sense used by their own children in a given new situation. These scheduled activities increased the parent's level of confidence on their children with miles to go ahead. It is evident from the above study that planned classroom teaching method and field exposure provide permanent impression in their process of learning and understanding the concept in their surroundings. Conclusion: Cha llenging the c hallenges of the challenged is an important assignment for professionals and parents. Among children with deafblindness there is need to provide lot of opportunities to experience the events happening in the outside world. A well planned activity makes half the work completed for the teacher and parents to train children with special needs. This method of outdoor activities teaching provides a better platform among children with deafblindness for better inclusion into the society. Acknowledgement The authors extend their sincere thanks to all who participated in the study especially the children with deafblindness, their parents and trainees unde rgoing diploma in Deafblindness. We also acknowledge our gratitude to the Director, NIEPMD, for guidance and support 74

References: Dhandapani, S. (2004). A text book of advanced educational psychology. Anmol publications, New Delhi. Karnad, D. (2009). Co curricular activities for children with vision impairment and additional disabilities, in Creating Learning Opportunities, a step by step guide to teaching students with vision impairments and additional disabilities, including deafblindness by Renna. B & Jayanthi. N, Eds., Ch.5, PP. 260-276. Sinha, K. (2004). A textbook of special education. Dominant Publishers. New Delhi Narayan, J. (2003). Education of children with deafblindness and additional disabilities, source book for master trainers, NIMH, HKID & DB. Orientation and mobility for deafblind people (2003), Handbook of sense international, Ahmadabad. Punani, B & Rawal, N. (2000). Visual impairment handbook, multi-category workshop for the handicapped, Blind peoples association, Ahmadabad. Sriniva sulu, C., Bhargavi. S., Gopala krishna.C. , & Pa ulami. G, (2005). Educating children with special needs about wildlife, Karavalam newsletter, Vol. 17& 18, Issue. 4&1, March & June. 2005 Swami, P. (2008). The impact of emotions on health and well-being, Journal of community guidance and research, 25(1).PP.98-105. Teaching strategies and management of deafblind children (2003). Hand book of sense international, Ahmadabad.

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A Man without Sight, But With Vision *Rohnika Sharma & Saumya Chandra

A blind person asked Swami Vivekanandaji, “Can there be anything worse than losing our eye sight? Swamiji replied; Yes, don’t lose your vision.” A man without sight with vision has proved himself to the entire world that nothing is impossible, if there is a strong will there will be a clear path which will lead to success. His journey of life started with two tiny steps and today he has crossed thousand miles. He is none othe r tha n Mr. Kand hasamy, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Disability Management & Special Education, Ramakr is hna Mis sion Vivekanada University, Coimbatore. Mr. Samy has never experienced light, and now removing darkness and spreading light of knowledge in the life of many students. His birth made his mother to think, why she brought this child to the world where hatred and humiliation were welcoming him. He belongs to a small village named Murugempalayam

situated at Avnashi- Thirupur, as it happens his family was struggling for day to day living at that time. After his birth, even his mother was forced to give poison by adding it in the milk, but the brave lady denied to do so. This denial was the first step to accept the reality and face the same with courage. Gradually this decision helped a lot in opening the doors of success to him. As far as his educational background is concerned it was his uncle who made him climb on the first step of educational ladder. He was sent to hostel where teachers and ayahs played a significant role in his life like his mother. He used to go home during holidays. He was taught Braille at school. As he was very brilliant child, slowly he became the leader in his class and he actively participated in games, sports and singing; his participation brought laurels not only to him but also to his family and village as well. Fur therm ore having impressed, Ms. Nagaratinam, the principal of the Government Higher Secondary School, Poonnamalli, Chennai, recognized him as “Genius student”. With the great support of his parents, uncle, teachers and Ramakrishna Mission, he completed M.A., M.Ed., M.Phil. and UGC NET. He got married to a sighted woman named Kalaimani and blessed with two

To know more about Mr. Kandasamy feel free to contact at RKMVU, FDMSE, Coimbatore Students, M.Ed in Special Education (Mental Retardation) FDMSE, RKMVU, Coimbatore

Rohnika Sharma & Saumya Chandra / A Man without Sight with Vision

children, Sarada and Manikandan who are presently doing their graduation. Mr. Samy had the privilege to be present when the foundation stone of RKMVU was laid down in the presence of Sri Somananda ji Maharaj and Sri Atamaramananda ji Mahahraj. You will be wondering to know that Mr. samy was the first

post graduate in MEd. Special Education (Visual Impairment) from FDMSE, RKMVU. Mr.Samy really made his mother proud for bringing up her very special child who is fulfilling all the requirements needed for a dignified life.



disABILITY I wake up at dawn too When the sky is turning blue. I too do all my work Just like you.

Why don’t you give me the chance To tell you my choice; To bear myself before you With dignity and poise?

Then why do you tell me, What dress I have to wear? What food I have to eat? You never even allow me To go across the street.

Allow me to show you What I am inside of me. There is a beautiful person Within this exterior that you see. I think its high time You started to see, That “ability” makes most part Of the word “disability”.

All my friends are there, Playing with their marbles; Running and laughing. And here I am trapped. Trapped within the jail of your mind! Tell me, are you not being unkind?

Dr. K.S. Shilpa. (MEd; Special Education: Mental Retardation), FDMSE, RKMVU

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Disability - Bane or Boon: A Spiritual Perspective *Swami Anuragananda To an observer, there is no tragedy more visible and moving than seeing people with disabilities. The lame, the deaf, the blind or mentally retarded bring forth the most visible and intense feeling of sympathy and despair in people. Willingness to serve, help or contribute something to promote their welfare is more spontaneously expressed as compared to subdued and hesitant response to sufferings caused by other factors, such as poverty, exploitation, etc. Persons with disabilities or those who love and care for them, invariably seek an explanation, a meaning of such suffering. ‘Why me?’ or ‘Why we?’ is the most used expression by them. If God is called the compassionate and loving Father, then how to justify His actions that are seemingly contrary to His epithets? Why so much disparity in treatment of His own children? There is a gulf of difference in the distribution of His bounty among His children. Is He then a just Father, a just God? To a chosen few He seemes to have provided heaven on earth. They are the fortunate few born with a silver spoon, a healthy body, a strong mind and with all ingredients necessary for the soul to exhibit its latent talents and pursue its desires. To the vast majority, He presents a picture of a stringent father, neither too indulgent nor too caring. But to quite a few, and especially to persons with disabilities, He is remotely similar to a loving

father. How do we explain the existence of despair in His kingdom of love? Like darkness in the kingdom of light? There are many schools of spiritual thoughts offering various explanations that bridge this seemingly unbridgeable gap between God’s attributes and His actions. The solutions offered are diverse, seemingly contradictory and of varying form. The Indian school of thought known popularly as Yoga can be said to have taken up the issue in a most comprehensive manner. It integrates human physiology, psychology, anatomy and cosmology. In spite of being known for its intellectual rigor and rational foundations, it is based on spiritual foundations, being a Revealed Truth and not a reasoned Truth. Swami Vivekananda says that a truly spiritual Truth does not contradict reason. It satisfies reason but also goes beyond the sphere of reason. The greatest discovery made by the seers of India was the discovery of a state that transcends reason and yet satisfies reason. All doubts vanish on attaining this state, and the mystery of God, man and nature stands unraveled. This enlightenment is attained by the destruction of our apparent self of bodymind complex. That gives way to the Real Man which cannot be burnt by fire, destroyed by sword, dried by air and water fails to wet it, as the Gita puts it. This indestructible, immortal Self is the repository of all knowledge, wisdom and love.

*Asst. Administrative Head, FDMSE, RKMVU, Coimbatore

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This discovery of a superset, of which reason is a subset, is a unique contribution of Indian civilization. It has influenced the progress of life-giving truths in every nook and corner of the world. This truth, not being a product of native soil in nations outside India, has been hidden in their mystery religions and cults practic es so as to avoid open confrontation with the narrow and fanatical outlook of general masses and selfish priesthood. For example, we know that the Egyptians took Himalayan care to preserve the dead body because they believed that any injury to the dead body would damage its soul also. They believed in a soul that was earthbound, matter-bound, as do most of our scientists in our so-called age of reason. Yet all these civilizations whisper, so to say, about an immortal Self in their mystery religions. When practice does not follow precept, then precept is generally a borrowed one. Contrast it with the Vedic practice where the body is cast away as a used garment whose time has come and needs to be discarded, not preserved. We read in the hymns of the Rig Veda, addressed to the God of Fire who is burning a dead body, ‘Carry him, O Fire, in your arms gently, give him a perfect body, a bright body, carry him where the fathers live, where there is no more sorrow, where there is no more death’. Whether whispered or preached in broad daylight, the working of this spiritual principle, the indestructible and immortal Self of man, has brought solace to humanity everywhere, wherever it found acceptance in some form. It can be compared with the morning dew that is seen no more once the day advances, but can be felt only through its contribution in bringing forth fairest flowers, 78

said Swami Vivekananda. This great discovery is also the reason for the survival of our nation in spite of repeated attempts made by the most iconoclastic religions of the world who tried their utmost to whip out all religions other than theirs from every land they happened to invade. Though they succeeded exceedingly well to the eternal misery of the millions conquered of almost every nation on earth, all of them had t o pay obe isanc e to the adamantine foundations on which the Indian religions are built. The statement ‘sTymev jyte, -Truth alone triumphs’ on our national emblem is testimony to this fact. For at least 1000 years, the might and power of the sword during the Islamic invasions, and the combined might and power of sword and lucre during domination by Christian nations could not shake the foundations on which spiritual life is based in India. What more proof is needed to prove that spiritual strength is mightier than the strength of empires, nations and societies built on the sandy foundation of sword or wealth? Can people with disabilities derive any benefit from this source of eternal life? Our nation survived, grew and today stands rejuvenated by the strength of these Truths in spite of handicaps of the worst type that were imposed on it. That has been possible because our motherland produced spiritually self-enlightened men who became her torch bearers. The soul of our nation could not be extinguished through atrocities of unimaginable magnitudes because of the strength these men derived from their realization of the inexhaustible fountain of eternal life. We believe that any individual who moulds his or her life on these Truths will also derive immense solace and strength. In this

Swami Anuragananda / Disability - Bane or Boon: A Spiritual Perspective

article an attempt has been made to bring before the readers the Yogic view of life, to help those seeking a better understanding of human suffering, life and growth. May this bring solace to the many, be it persons with disability, their near and dear ones, others, or various people involved in serving the disabled. Are we the makers of our destiny? There are questions that frequently arise with regard to human life â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Is our life guided by free will or fate. On the one hand, it is obvious that our own efforts are the primary catalyst in our successes. On the other hand it is equally true that at times it seem that we are unable to do anything howsoever we try to break the adamantine wall of circumstances. We are eternally caught between these two opposite poles â&#x20AC;&#x201C; free will and fate. To a primitive mind, most aspects of his life seem to be dictated by forces beyond his control, beyond his willing, except for what is most obvious, such as eating, breathing, etc. He finds himself to be helplessly buffeted by events and circumstances that seem beyond his control, capacity and understanding. So he attributes these to an external agent capable of handling cosmic events. To him Indra, Varuna, the Maruts are the great gods who in turn are subservient to the greatest among them, the God of gods. So he saw the need to propitiate a plethora of minor gods and believed firmly that his individual destiny was guided by the dictates of these supernatural beings. Whatever he did not understand, he attributed to a minor god. Just as he was dictated by these gods, these gods were in turn dictated by God, the Supreme Being, who dictates the destiny of both the mighty and the lowly. Life in such a worldview is like a ride in

a boat afloat on a violent sea not in our control. We only have the power to steer our boat, like a calf having the freedom to move within the length of the rope it is tied to. Each man is free up to some limit, beyond which he is helpless like a cast off leaf. This can not be denied. It is also equally true that the boundary between free will and fate varies from individual to individual. With growth and maturity, our understanding expands and we feel the sphere of our free will expanding and dislodging many gods from their positions. For example, the present age has highlighted the role played by individuals and societies in affecting the entire weather pattern, ocean currents, migratory movement of birds, animals, crop patterns, etc. Societies are nothing but aggregates of individuals. Things that seemed cosmic and were attributed to various gods of nature in the past are being shown to be the effect of various forces in nature, and our role in determining its moods and phases in becoming clearer with each passing day. Our awareness has increased our responsibility. We are now more careful regarding choices we make with regard to what we use, eat, or do to our natural resources. Everyday we feel that we are more and more responsible for the world we live in. Today we are more sure that the policies and practices followed by us will determine the state of the future world for our children. So more and more people are willing to participate in the cosmic drama being played out in our lives than to just sit back and plead to an invisible Super Being for intervention. We have, as if, become godlike in determining the extent of our power and contribution to seemingly cosmic and cataclysmic events.

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Journal of Disability Management and Special Education

This shifting of responsibilities from an external agent to the individual is also the view of the Indian school of philosophy. It believes that the role of an external God recedes as the God within awakens. The Vedic view of evolution is this process of awakening of the God within every human being. The progress of civilizations is the story of unfoldment of this divinity in man. These awakened men, whatever their number be, are the real moulders of the destinies of nations, the sheet anchor of each civilization. It is also equally true that every one of us is destined to realize this divinity in the long run. No one will be left bound by the shackles of human misery or thrown into Dante’s hell for eternity. This hope and inspiration is the backbone of Indian spirituality. This evolutionary statement of the Vedic rishis resonates in the Vedic mantra, ‘Astae ma sÌmy, tmsae ma JyaeitgRmy, m&TyaemaR=m&t< gmy,’ – Lead me from the unreal to the Real; Darkness to Light; Mortality to Immortality.’ We all must graduate from being helpless beings cringing before all the gods humanity has created till the God within awakens and we become aware of our spiritual heritage as stated in the great Vedic dictum ‘tÅvmis - Thou are That’. The microcosm and macrocosm: The perplexing question of fate and free will is a logical byproduc t of the interdependence of the microcosm and macrocosm, the individual and cosmos. Our universe is inter-connected, and no man is totally free or totally bound. In fact fate and free will can said to be the obverse and reverse of the same coin, because neither can exist without the other. It is true that each one of us is a definite ‘individual’ with a specific 80

personality, and it is equally true that we are the product of this cosmos, and we can not be other than what we are. How does this interdependence work? But first we need to address the controversy as to what are we matter or spirit? All spiritual traditions believe that mind is the builder in man and not matter. But this is contested by rank materialists and a majority of scientists. To them man is an outcome of matter. Various molecules combine and give rise to the force called life or thought. Man is a product of heredity and owes all that he is to the genetic exchanges between parents and ancestors. Our mental states are nothing but chemical responses to various stimuli from our sensory system. To a materialist the force known as life is an outcome of accidental meetings of molecules. However, in spite of materialism asserting its ugly head in the name of rationalism, Swami Vivekananda had long back pointed out that even from the point of logic it is rational to believe that matter is an outcome of force, and not vice-versa. “There is a great discussion going on as to whether the aggregate of materials we call the body is the cause of manifestation of the force we call the soul, thought, etc., or whether it is the thought that manifests this body. The religions of the world of course hold that the force called thought manifests the body, and not the reverse. There are schools of modern thought which hold that what we call thought is simply the outcome of the adjustment of the parts of the machine which we call body. Taking the second position that the soul or the mass of thought, or however you may call it, is the outcome of this machine, the outcome of the chemical and physical combinations of matter

Swami Anuragananda / Disability - Bane or Boon: A Spiritual Perspective

making up the body and brain, leaves the question unanswered. What makes the body? What force combines the molecules into the body form? What force is there which takes up material from the mass of matter around and forms my body one way, another body another way, and so on? What makes these infinite distinctions? To say that the force called soul is the outcome of the combinations of the molecules of the body is putting the cart before the horse. How did the combinations come? Where was the force to make them? If you say that some other force was the cause of these combinations, and soul was the outcome of that matter, and that soul — which combined a certain mass of matter — was itself the result of the combinations, it is no answer.” ‘That theory ought to be taken which explains most of the facts, if not all, and that without contradicting other existing theories. It is more logical to say that the force which takes up matter and forms the body is the same which manifests through that body. To say, therefore, that the thought forces manifested by the body are the outcome of the arrangement of molecules and have no independent existence has no meaning; neither can force evolve out of matter. Rather it is possible to demonstrate that what we call matter does not exist at all. It is only a certain state of force. Solidity, hardness, or any other state of matter can be proved to be the result of motion. Increase of the vortex motion imparted to fluids gives them the force of solids.

A mass of air in vortex motion, as in a tornado, becomes solid-like and by its impact breaks or cuts through solids. A thread of a spider’s web, if it could be moved at almost infinite velocity, would be as strong as an iron chain and would cut through an oak tree*. Looking at it in this way, it would be easier to prove that what we call matter does not exist. But the other way cannot be proved.’ Yoga takes the position that we are what we think we are. Mind is the builder in man. It is not only the builder of an individual self but also of its subsequent destiny. Since human destiny cannot be in isolation to the destiny of societies and civilizations, individual minds affect the destiny of everything. The affected civilizations in turn act as limitations to the freedom of choices and opportunities these individual minds can have. This sets in a curious cycle of dependence and interdependence; free will and fate. A silk worm makes a cocoon and finds itself limited by the boundaries of the cocoon. It lays its own trap. Only if it can cut through its cocoon will it metamorphose into a butterfly. This is equally true of individuals and the world we live in. We make our world and are confined to its matrix. How do I become a butterfly? Various spiritual traditions tell us a way out of this cocoon-like world of ours. The yoga school says that if we learn how we went about building the cocoon, we will also know how to come out of it. The yoga school not only shows

*NOTE: It is interesting to note that many observations made by Swamiji to explain his position later became technological innovations. Swamiji mentions about; ‘A thread of a spider’s web, if it could be moved at almost infinite velocity, would be as strong as an iron chain and would cut through an oak tree’. A few years back we purchased an Italian machine to mow the lawns of our campus. Generally mowers operate a cutting device to trim grass evenly. To our surprise, this mower worked on the principle elucidated by Swamiji as stated earlier. Trimming is achieved by rotating a thin thread made of nylon at very high speed.

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Journal of Disability Management and Special Education

a way to freedom, it is the rationale of all spiritual practices under the sun. The samasara chakra – the woof and warp of our universe: What do we mean by mind being the builder? The Yoga school states that man is the primary cause of both the microcosm and the macrocosm. In man, mind is not only the builder of t he c ocoon of samsara (transmigratory cycle of repeated births from species to species) that an individual builds for himself, but also is the cause of his destruction. This is aptly revealed by the Gita which says, ‘AaTmEv ýaTmnae bNxuraTmEv irpur aTmn> || this mind is verily your friend and also your enemy’. If there is any real substitute to the mythical Kamadhenu, the mythical wish fulfilling cow, then the mind is that milch cow. This truth is beautifully stated in another sloka of the Gita, ‘ïÏamyae=y< pué;ae yae yCD+Ï> s @v s>. – A man is what his faith is.’ We are the product of the firmest convictions of our minds, so to say. This tallies with general observations as well. The best way to success is to fill our mind and soul with the goal we want to achieve. Until and unless we become one with an idea, no real success in actualization of that idea is granted even in this world of ours. On this principle is built the oft quoted one liner of various management gurus; ‘Our attitude determines our altitude.’ To a yogi, attitude is determined by urges of the psyche. The whole of evolution is governed by these urges. Where we are in the evolutionary series is the effect of these urges. How far down we fall in the evolutionary series is also the handiwork of these urges. We not only go up the evolutionary scale but do go down the series as well is the 82

view of Indian school of thought. This also was the stand of Swami Vivekananda who pointed out to the evolutionists that the evolutionary series discovered by the Darwinian school can be at the compared to an ascending ladder. It shows a series of links between species from – mollusk to man. But how can this be taken to mean that the species have traveled only in one direction? For, a ladder is used for both ascent and descent. If evolutionary steps show that we have graduated to man from animal, it is equally valid to assume that man can descend to animal forms, if he so wills and acts. Yoga firmly believes in this two-way movement scenario. The theory of evolution is very fascinating to the moderners because of its elegant and neat representation of species in an ascending scale. But appearances are deceptive. Take for example the case of running lamps as depicted in the following diagram. To untrained minds, the running lights appear to be a case of one light chasing another light from lamp to lamp. It gives the illusion of a continuous relay, very systematic and rhythmic, like species transforming into other species in a relay-like run. But we know that this is not the case. The phenomenon of the running lights is an illusion created by switching on and off two or more sets of lamps as explained below: The table given below shows two rings of equal radius and having 10 lamps placed equidistant from each other so as to have an angular distance of 36 degrees between each lamp. Let us label the rings as ‘A’ and ‘B’ for our convenience. The lamps in both these

Swami Anuragananda / Disability - Bane or Boon: A Spiritual Perspective

circuits are switched ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ for 5 seconds alternatively by means of a timer. Let us assume that we have switched on both the circuits. What will we observe? We will notice that the lamps are switched on for 5 seconds and off for another 5 seconds in both the circuits. In order to create the illusion of running lights, we need to execute following steps: 1.

will be switched ‘OFF’ and vice versa. With this change, we will notice that when lamps are ‘ON’ in circuit ‘A’, it is ‘OFF’ in circuit ‘B’. To an untrained observer, it will appear that light is jumping from ring ‘A’ to ring ‘B’ alternatively. 2.

When the lamps in circuit ‘A’ are switched ‘ON’. the lamps in circuit ‘B’ 83

Rotate one of the ring by 18 angular degrees and place it over the other ring. Now all the 20 lamps share the same circumference and the lamps will be equidistant from the preceding and succeeding lamps by 18 angular

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Journal of Disability Management and Special Education

degrees. This arrangement will create the illusion of light chasing light from lamp to lamp. The above experiment shows that, just because there is an observable symmetry in visual facts, it is too simplistic to assume that the same symmetry underlies the causation. The evolution series at the best can be compared to a series of hotels alongside the highway of life whose destination is selfperfection. Hotels are consumer-specific. Any hotelier will tell you what type of customers they expect to stop at their place, because hotels are constructed to cater to a specific clientele. Now, finding that a hotel with an attached bar is attracting people with interest in drinking and is repelling non-drinkers, it may be deduced that people drink wine because of the existence of hotel. But that is like putting a

cart before the horse. Hereditary factors or environment do not cause the phenomenon of mind but provides a soul opportunity to express its latent desires and urges. Once, someone asked the renowned pshchic Edgar Cayce a similar question, ‘From which side of my family do I inherit most?’ In response, the sleeping prophet Cayce responded, ‘You have inherited most from yourself, not from your family. The family is only a river through which the soul flows.’ We all are makers of our own destiny. Our urges are of our making, and our urges will decide the outcome in the form of where we land in the evolutionary series – up or down; whether we will climb one step or many or vice versa. How is that our urges play such an important role?

…………………….. to be continued

Smita Rao / Book Review Vol. 1. No. 1 January 2011

Journal of Disability Management and Special Education ISSN: 2229-5143

Book review Stem Cell Therapy in Neurological Disorders Authors: Alok Sharma, MS, MCh, Nandini Gokulchandran, MD ISBN: 81 86876 06 5, pages: 271, price: Rs. 1500 In one slim volume, Drs Sha rma a nd Gokul chandran present the history, science and cur rent clinical applications of stem cell therapy in patients with neurological disorders. This concise book is both, engaging and informative for readers with an interest in regenerative medicine. Over the last decade, stem cells have been hailed as a panacea for a number of incurable diseases and conditions such as spinal cord injury, stroke, muscular dystrophy and motor neuron disease. Given that the human embryo is one source of stem cells, embryonic stem cell research is often met with strong opposition based on religious and cultural beliefs. The authors deal with the political and ethical issues neither surrounding stem cell research with poise and sensitivity, neither side-stepping nor over-dramatizing the prevailing debate. Drs Sharma and Gokulchandran are to be congratulated for their ability to present not only a historical overview but also a synopsis of the current state-of-the-art in stem cell research across the world. The book is well-organized into four intuitive sections: an Introduction which provides an overview of the basic science underlying stem cell therapy, a section on Clinical Applications which includes case studies and current clinical protocols, a section on Rehabilitation and Regulation and lastly, an Appendix listing major stem cell studies underway. The authors are to be lauded for generously sharing protocols developed at their institutions. Also noteworthy is the emphasis that they have placed on a team approach to optimize post-operative outcomes.

Overall, readers who are clinicians may appreciate a more critical appraisal of the literature, with a view to understanding the reasons for modest outcomes reported with stem cell therapy. In particular, it may be helpful to discuss specific technological advances or patient selection protocols that may contribute to better outcomes. For the value of stem cell therapy to be defined conclusively, albeit through practice based evidence, more rigorous outcome measures must be used. At minimum, double-blinding and diligent reporting of well-validated pre- and postoperative outcomes should be mandatory. The ability to document robust and sustained improvements in patientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; function will truly position Drs Sharma and Gokulchandran as global leaders in the field. Minor refinements notwithstanding, the strengths of the book clearly shine through. It provides an unbiased, balanced overview of a field whose potential is only eclipsed by the strong emotional reactions that are elicited when one mentions stem cell therapy. While it is undeniable that several significant issues remain unanswered, such as problems associated with large-scale demand for stem cells, and transparency in the development of cell lines for commercial use, Drs Sharma and Gokulchandran continue to lead by example, and this book showcases their pragmatic and reflective approach that has currently proved viable. For more details visit www.neurogen.in Reviewer Smita Rao, PT, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, New York University 85

A.T. Thressiakutty / Book Review Vol. 1. No. 1 January 2011

Journal of Disability Management and Special Education ISSN: 2229-5143

Book review Academic problems in primary school children enrolled under SSA- Karnataka Author: Dr. S. Venkatesan, 2010 All India Institute of Speech & Hearing (AIISH), Mysore: ISBN: 978-81-909355-8-6, Price Rs.250/- pages: 108 This book is an accompaniment to a project undertaken by SSA-Karnataka in collaboration with AIISH, Mysore to sensitize tea chers across the st ate on com mon psychological factors and issues related to children with academic problems in school setting. The author, Dr. Venkatesan, Professor in Clinical Psychology at AIISH, is a well known author of his books especially ‘Behavioural Assessment Scales for Indian Children with Mental Retardation” (BASIC MR). This book has 8 chapters. Before directly entering in to the psychological and academic problems in preschool children, the author consciously builds a foundation by giving an introduction and basics on child development in the first two chapters. Thus the readers’ minds are prepared to enter the minds of the children to analyze the psychological and academic problems. Chapter 3 explains the psychological problems in prim ary school children nam ely com munication problem , eat ing and elimination problems, emotional, behvioural and sexual problems, sleep and attention disturbances are discussed briefly. Academic problems are brought out in chapter 4 through suitable examples which are encountered by the primary school teachers in their day-to-day classroom situations. When any teacher goes through the case vignette, he/she would definitely say,” Oh this is what exactly I face and look for reasons and remedies”. Chapter 5 explains how to diagnose and identify the natural course of academic problems at different phases such as infant and 86

toddler, preschool, primary school and adulthood with case illustrations. Chapter 6 deals with public attitudes, parent reactions and working with families. In addition to some suggestions to foster self esteem, common misconceptions in public and parent attitudes are briefly explained in this chapter. Som e use ful t ips f or re media tion and rehabilitation are listed in a tabular form and described in chapter 7.When the students at a cross road facing difficulties to continue their education, the author shows a way in chapter 8, National Institute of Open Schooling: a probable alternate for children with learning disability. The author ends the book with 4 appendices which include some vocations, courses and occupations relevant for children with learning disability, educational concessions, decision tree on academic problems, summary scheme for remediation of academic problems and glossary. Though this book has been designed as a study manual for master trainers, it is a treasure for all teachers especially the special education teachers who are handling the children with academic problems in primary schools. The language, illustrations, case vignette and over all presentation are very attractive and highly commendable, worth to own a copy of it. Congratulations to the author, project team and AIISH for publishing it. For more details: E-mail: psyconindia@gmail.com Reviewer A.T. Thressiakutty, Ph.D Professor, FDMSE, RKMVU

Abhishek Kumar Srivastava / Book Review Vol. 1. No. 1 January 2011

Journal of Disability Management and Special Education ISSN: 2229-5143

Book review Toy Kit for Kids with Developmental Disabilities (User Manual) Author: Venkatesan, S. All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore, Second Edition (2010), ISBN 978-81-909355-7-9, Price- 100/- Pages: 63 The present user manual under review critically throws light on the significance of play and toys on overall development of children in general and children with developmental disabilities in particular. Play is one of the most vital parts of childhood development. Researches have shown that all areas of development are positively influenced through a child’s play activity. Moreover, preschool and school age children develop socially, emotionally, cognitively, and physically through outside play. Children gain a strong foundation for learning through play. The entire manual is written in an interesting and lucid manner. The special feature of the manual is its pictorial illustration of different kinds of play and activities. In the preface itself the author has effectively brought out the benefits of play in fostering “leadership, connection, creativity, dexterity, self esteem, wonder, pride, physical, cognitive and emotiona l strength, com passion, empowerment, team work, imagination, laughter, passion, joy…..” and also the list of age range of children and their toys and play preferences from two months up to six years age and above. The author has also pointed out that one should be very careful in selection of toys. Toys should be “safe, simple, study, accessible, durable, non toxic, portable, user friendly, washable, age appropriate and above all teaching task oriented”.

The first chapter examines the home training of kids with developmental disabilities where the author points out the statistical data of disabled population on the one hand and acute shortage of rehabilitation professionals on the other so he suggested that caregivers and parents have greater role to play at home. The chapter describes the steps and procedure involved in home training and at last the guidelines for administering Activity Checklist for Preschool Children with Developmental Disabilities (ACPCDD). The toy kits has been designed in such a way so that it can reduce the burden of parents and caregivers in searching the appropriate teaching aids for training their kids on a particular activity chosen from the above mentioned checklist. The toy kit has been divided into three categories to make its use more convenient according the age of the child. Those three categories are infant version (0-2 years), toddler version (2-4 years) and preschool version (4-6 years). The infant version comprises of 17 items; toddler version comprises of 31 items and preschool version comprises of 49 items. Under each version list of toys and related items under ACPC- DD for their use is given in tabular format. The next chapter of the manual presents the Activity Checklist for Preschool Children with Developmental Disabilities (ACPC- DD) in 87

Abhishek Kumar Srivastava / Book Review

which domain wise activities and corresponding toy code is mentioned. Apart from the activities in running sentences, for each domain pictorial presentation and case study of children are also given to concretize the concept and related activities.. The last chapter of the manual presents some useful guidelines for effective home teaching of kids with developmental disabilities for parents and caregivers. The author has also provided glossary on technical terms to clear the doubt of user perta ining to used terminologies in the manual. Present manual is a practical and invaluable reference and is essential reading for all of those who involved in teaching preschool kids. Overall the manual is result of extensive research programme which brings forth the eff icac y of toys in various aspects of

development. Clearly an outcome of deep study and painstaking effort, the manual will be of immense benefit to parents, caregivers, rehabilitation professionals and special educators. The present manual is also available in Kannada language which has been translated from English to Kannada by staff members, Department of Clinical Psychology, AIISH, Mysore. {Source : Toy Kit for Kid s with Developmental Disabilities (Us er Manual)- English Version }. For more ditails E-mail; psyconindia@gmail.com Reviewer Abhishek Kumar Srivastava Asst. Professor FDMSE, RKMVU

Forth Coming Event National Seminar on Mental Retardation Organized by Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Faculty of Disability Management & Special Education, Coimbatore Date: 25-27 February 2011

Theme

inclusive education for children with Intellectual DIsabIlIty: AN INTROSPECTION Precepts & practice in inclusive education for children with mental retardation: a reality check? Do we have adequate human and material resources to fulfill the heterogeneous needs of children with mental retardation? Has inclusive education proved a better system to improve quality of life of children with mental retardation

Background of the Seminar Inclusive education for children with disability is about valuing the differences in the child and catering to their different needs, based on belief that all children can learn and should learn together. Of course, it is not a new concept, not a new practice; many conferences and seminars were conducted on this theme. More and more children with MR are getting admitted in mainstream. Do we achieve the expected outcome if they are placed in main stream? Let us undertake a serious input- process - output analysis. This is what we mean by â&#x20AC;&#x153;introspectionâ&#x20AC;?. General objective of the seminar is to enable the personnel, involved in inclusive education of children with disabilities, especially the professionally trained teachers to awaken the strength in persons with disabilities for constructive purpose. Based 89

on the vision of FDMSE and the concept and principles of inclusive education, the following 3 subtopics have been selected for introspection during the three days of seminar 1. Challenges faced by the team of planners, executers, educators and parents to make inclusive education a success for children with mental retardation 2. Efficiency of professionally trained teachers and adequacy of resources to meet the heterogeneous needs of children with mental retardation 3. The knowledge and skills achieved by the adolescents with mental retardation to face life with confidence and independence

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