PERCEPTION, ATTITUDE AND INTERVENTION STRATEGIES OF SPECIAL EDUCATORS TOWARDS ATTENTION DEFICITS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISTIC DISORDER IN IBADAN, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the perception, attitude and intervention strategies of special educators towards the attention deficits of children with autistic disorders in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The population comprised special educators in both regular and special schools in Ibadan, Nigeria with a sample size of 64 who were selected through purposive and random sampling techniques from the selected centres and schools in Ibadan, Nigeria. The instrument, Perception, Attitude, and Intervention Strategies of Special Educators (PAISQ) was validated by experts with a reliability coefficient of 0.53 for perception, 0.60 for attitude, and 0.55 for intervention strategies using cronbach alpha. Data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation. It was observed that 73.4% of the respondents perceive that teaching children with attention deficits is often very challenging for them. Also, 59.4% of the respondents believe that the progress of children with attention deficits is slowed down and they end up as mediocres. This implies that there is a need for special educators to continually develop themselves and work with the right perception and attitude towards attention deficit and also embrace the use of evidence-based intervention strategies in managing the attention deficit of children with autistic disorders.