Collaboration and Inclusion for Enhancing Communication Skills among Learners With Autism in Selected Private Primary Schools in Nairobi City County, Kenya
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Date
2024-11
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
Collaboration among specialists and inclusive education are key strategies in enhancing communication skills of learners with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Most learners with autism have difficulties in socio-communication skills that require both collaborative and inclusive approaches to improve their social communication skills and promote social learning and social acceptance. However, the application of these approaches in Kenyan schools with children with autism remains unknown. This study assessed the use of collaboration and inclusion as an intervention strategy to enhance socio-communication skills of learners with Autism in Nairobi City County. The objectives included: assessing the extent of use of collaborative strategies by teachers to enhance communication skills among learners with Autism, assessing the extent of use of inclusion strategies by teachers to enhance communication skills of learners with Autism, determining the resources used in collaboration and inclusion by the teachers to enhance communication skills of learners with Autism and establishing the challenges of using collaboration and inclusion to enhance communication skills of learners with Autism. The study was guided by Vygotsky’s social constructivism theory and adopted a descriptive research design using mixed methods. The target population comprised head teachers, teachers, teacher assistants, and speech-language therapists from primary schools in Nairobi County. The study sampled four (4) selected private primary schools in Nairobi City County. The study employed purposive sampling technique and utilized all the available accessible population in the selected private primary schools. The main instruments of data collection were questionnaires and interviews schedules. A pilot study was conducted in a randomly selected private school in Nairobi. A test-retest method was used to ensure reliability. Quantitative data was analyzed by aid of SPSS software and then reported using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically and reported narratively. The study findings revealed that all the sampled schools had at least some collaboration and inclusion mechanisms in place to enhance communication skills for learners with Autism, although there were some notable inclusion gaps. The use of collaboration interventions for learners with autism in their schools was, on average, moderate, while the utilization of inclusion strategies was high. All the schools had some deficits in critical resources needed to support collaboration and inclusion interventions. The availability of such resources was moderate. The most salient challenges were related to: attitudes toward inclusion of learners with Autism, knowledge and awareness, resource availability, administrative support, and training. From the findings, it was concluded that collaboration and inclusion strategies to support learners with Autism were not implemented to the maximum, primarily due to the challenges mentioned above. The education ministry should therefore work together with headteachers to ensure teachers, speech-language therapists, parents, and other stakeholders have the resources and support they need to implement collaboration and inclusion interventions successfully. The moderate use of collaboration strategies for learners with ASD, as reported in this and other studies in the country implies that teachers and SLTs in these schools may be missing valuable opportunities to enrich the learning experiences of children with ASD and help them develop effective communication skills.
Description
A Research Project Submitted In Partial Fulfilment for the Award of Degree of Master in Speech and Language Pathology in the School of Education and Life-Long Learning Kenyatta University, November 2024.
Supervisor
Tom Abuom