ANALYSIS OF RESULTS FROM AN EDUCATIONAL QUESTIONNAIRE

The followers is a elaborate analysis of the responses to the two different questionnaires. The full questionnaires and replies are summarized in tabular arraies in the appendix ( delight see appendix E and appendix F ) . The response rates to both questionnaires were comparatively good. From the parents, 6 out of 15 returned a completed questionnaire, giving a response rate of 40 % . From the instructors, healers and other school staff 13 out of 23 returned a completed questionnaire, giving a response rate of 56 %Background of parents and kidsAll 6 respondents to the parents ‘ questionnaire were the several female parents of the kids with autism ; no male parents, carers or other relations responded straight. The ages of their kids ranged between 9.2 and 10.7 old ages ( average = 9.9 ) and all except for one had merely one kid with particular demands. This peculiar female parent reported to hold another boy ( aged 13 old ages ) with autism and to boot terrible larning troubles every bit good as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD ) . The parents heard about the school with an ABA programme from different beginnings. Two of them were referred by friends ; two found out about it on the World Wide Web, one was referred by a physician and one by a charity called PEACH ( Parents for the early intercession of autism in kids ) . The motives of the parents to direct their kid to the school were besides different: for four parents it was peculiarly because of the school-based ABA programme – one of these four even followed an ABA-program at place before while another one wanted to exchange to an Applied Behaviour Analysis-based intercession as she did n't experience that her autistic kid was doing any noticeable advancement at the Local Education Authority ( LEA ) school. Another parent had problem acquiring support for the coveted home-based ABA plan from her local council and so opted for a school-based attack ( which the local council agreed to fund ) , while the last respondent simply indicated that the school was â€Å" what she wanted † . The continuance of those 6 kids at school ranged from merely half a twelvemonth to over 5 old ages, giving an norm of 3.5 old ages and a median of 3.8 old ages.Teachers ‘ experience with and positions of ABAThe 13 teachers/school staff who participated in the questionnaire had really different degrees of experience. Experience degrees measured in old ages ranged from merely under 1 twelvemonth to 11 old ages with a median of 3 old ages demoing a really broad scattering of the consequences. The mean experience of instructors ‘ was 4.3 old ages. 12 out of the 13 school staff were existent instructors, 1 indicated to be â€Å" other school staff † . Asked about the restrictions and hazards of Applied Behaviour Analysis, instructors replied that ABA might non be suited to all kids with autism and that the chief hazard is that kids can go â€Å" prompt dependent † or dependant on one-on-one support, which may curtail their societal accomplishments development in the hereafter. Teachers besides noted that Applied Behaviour Analysis is a really stiff and intensive manner of learning which can be difficult to follow, seting a batch of emphasis on the households, and if non applied properly it could be damaging to a kid ‘s advancement. Other instructors / healers besides mentioned the deficiency of secondary proviso after the kid leaves the peculiar school ( which is primary merely ) and that the plan is really expensive. Unfortunately, merely 11 of the 13 instructors replied to this inquiry.Parents ‘ cognition of, experience and engagement with ABAFrom the six parents reacting the questionnaire, 5 described their c ognition as â€Å" really good † , while one felt that she had â€Å" some cognition † . Besides, 5 out of 6 had some old experience with Applied Behaviour Analysis rules, either through a home-based plan or another ABA-lead school. One parent besides applied different, more specialised signifiers of ABA before, such as â€Å" spring led † Applied Behaviour Analysis attack, independent Verbal Behaviour ( VB ) programme and Lovaas. Interestingly, the instructors ‘ responses to the inquiry sing parents ‘ cognition and experience is really different: instructors find that the cognition degree of parents varies a batch and on the border, parents have far excessively small apprehension of the ABA-approach. They see a direct relationship between the degree of involvement a parent shows to his or her degree of cognition and emphasis that the school is already offering a batch of information to parents in order to maintain them up to day of the month about their autistic kid ‘s behaviour programme. Teachers believe that the engagement of parents in their kid ‘s Applied Behaviour Analysis plan is really of import. The chief benefits in the eyes of the school staff are consistence and continuity in the manner the kid is worked with, particularly in the initial phases of the ABA-program execution. However, instructors complain that most parents are non involved plenty in their kid ‘s ABA pla n. Most suspect that the grounds for this are merely a deficiency of clip, involvement, cognition and in some instances besides their bad commandment of English. Some besides say that parents merely necessitate much more support. All of the parents have seen betterments in their autistic kid ‘s behavior since following the Applied Behaviour Analysis programme at school. Most parents saw betterments in the communicating of their kid, some to boot celebrated betterments in accomplishments, behavior and assurance. No troubles have been reported except for nail-biting in 2 out of the 6 instances.Use of ABA at placeTeachers believe that utilizing Applied Behaviour Analysis outside of school ( e.g. at place ) has a figure of advantages for a kid with autism. Chiefly it reinforces what the kid has earned at school but more significantly it provides consistence to the kid, allows him to generalise behaviors and potentially larn more behaviors and accomplishments. One instructor thought that it is non possible to generalise the advantages for all kids, another one idea that its good to follow ABA rules when covering with behaviors of the kid, but non utile to utilize in all state of affairss at place. However, the 11 out of 13 instructors besides identified a figure of hazards with utilizing ABA outside school – 2 of the instructors thought there were no hazards at all. The chief hazard identified was that parents would necessitate to be decently trained in order to use ABA right and systematically with the manner it is done at school. Otherwise, kids could acquire confused, possibly unlearn some of the good behavior and accomplishments that they have acquired at school and perchance even acquire frustrated. Teachers besides mentioned that kids could go easy â€Å" prompt-dependant † , that Applied Behaviour Analysis is non a natural manner to educate or handle kids and if applied throughout would make an unrealistically structured universe for the kid with autism. One instructor besides mentioned that utilizing ABA both inside and outside school could be excessively much for kids, as the plan is really intensive. Of the six parents take parting in the questionnaire, 5 presently use ABA rules at place. However the strength varies a batch between the households. One female parent indicated she used it 80 % of the clip, two moths use it in the eventides or on Saturday forenoon, one mainly for lavatory preparation and the 5th female parent gave no clear indicant of how much she used it but said that she would utilize it â€Å" to generalise what is taught at school † . Asked about whether they would see utilizing ABA more at place, parents ‘ sentiments seem to be divided: three replied that they would non utilize it more, or merely if a new debatable behaviour would emerge, while two said that they would wish to utilize it more, e.g. during school vacations. One of these two said that she would necessitate more support and preparation. The 6th female parent gave no response at all to this inquiry. Teachers and healers believe that the chief grounds why parents do non utilize Applied Behaviour Analysis at place are linked to a deficiency of the necessary clip and cognition. Some instructors besides believe that other household committednesss, e.g. other kids and spouse, and a deficiency of support play a function in it. One instructor suspects that some parents may differ with ABA and that there might non be adequate communicating and trust between the parents and the school. Asked about how parents could be encouraged to utilize ABA more at place, instructors believe that both preparation and place visits would be most of import. Two instructors besides think that a better communicating between the school and the parents would assist, while some suggest that parents should see the school more frequently and, for illustration, attend workshops or merely detect their kid in schoolroom. One instructor besides believes that more support is needed to acquire parents more involved in Applied Behaviour Analysis programmes at place. Finally, parents were asked about any other intercession techniques they used to handle their autistic kids. Two of them answered that they were utilizing the Relationship Development Intervention ( RDI ) , one tried the Son-Rise Programme and yet another female parent uses a gluten casein free and OT free diet. The two staying parents indicated that they were non utilizing any other intercessions.