European Journal of Special Education Research
ISSN: 2501 - 2428
ISSN-L: 2501 - 2428
Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu
10.5281/zenodo.1044041
Volume 1│Issue 1│September 2014
A REPORT OF INTERVENTION PROVISION FOR INFANT AND
JUNIOR AGE CHILDREN WITH COMMUNICATION DISORDERS IN
A SMALL URBAN COMMUNITY IN ABEOKUTA,
OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
O. A. Oribabori
PhD, Institute of Education,
Faculty of Education,
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria
Abstract:
The paper presents an account of an intervention programme implemented to address
the learning problems of children with communication disorder in a community in
Abeokuta, Ogun State. The presentation details the history of educational programme
of the community, and the nature of the intervention which includes the policy
framework with which the intervention was packaged, the staffing involved, parental
involvement, the integration of the programme into the regular school and the
curriculum of the programme. The report also provided information on the success
recorded in the programme and suggestions for its sustenance.
Keywords: intervention provision, infant and junior age children, communication
disorders
1. Introduction
Recognising the importance of every citizen in a community and the need therefore to
cater for those with special needs becomes necessary. Communication skills are crucial
to experience of life, especially for beginning children in language development as this
is critical to cognitive development and learning. Forms of language needed by an
average individual include reading, writing, gesturing, listening, and speaking. All of
these are necessary for communication. Learning takes place through the process of
Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved
Published by Open Access Publishing Group ©2015.
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O. A. Oribabor –
A REPORT OF INTERVENTION PROVISION FOR INFANT AND JUNIOR AGE CHILDREN WITH
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS IN A SMALL URBAN COMMUNITY IN
ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
communication. The ability to participate in active and interactive communication with
peers and adults in the educational setting is essential for a student to succeed in school.
To this end, an intervention programme was embarked upon for children with
communication disorder in a small urban community in Abeokuta in Ogun State of
Nigeria. The provision was for infant and junior age children with communication
disorders, located within a small urban authority. It comprises two classes catering for
16-20 pupils. It is situated at a small infant school but is administratively independent
of the school.
2. Historical perspectives
This authority like most others had no specialist provision for pupils with speech and
language or communication disorders in the early 2012s. Pupils with very clear needs
might be placed in one of the specialist language schools, but this was exceptional. The
usual choice for young children with communication problems was between an
inappropriate placement in a specialist provision - which could be for partially hearing,
educationally subnormal or maladjusted - and making do without specialist support,
other than what an understaffed speech therapy service might provide, in an ordinary
class. This situation reflected in part the low level of awareness about specific language
disorder and the absence of suitable provision.
The initial case for establishing this provision was made by staff at a Child
Development Unit (CDU) operating in the city. This is a multi-disciplinary assessment
facility where pre-school children are assessed over a period of a fortnight by a range of
professionals. A group of children emerged who were judged not to be intellectually
handicapped but retarded because of speech and language problems. Over a two-year
period 34 such children were identified. A number of staff working with these children
at the CDU, including in particular the speech therapist, became convinced of the need
for specialist language provision for them.
A number of reasons for initiating new provision were advanced. First, these
children's needs for specialist attention were not being met, and it was unlikely that
they would be met under existing schooling arrangements, be they ordinary or special.
A small number might manage in well-supported primary classes, but for many this
would be grossly insufficient. If they went to ESN schools, it was felt that speech
therapy services would be deployed inefficiently and spread too thinly, quite apart
from the manifest problems of labelling and inappropriate environment. Secondly,
residential placement was appropriate and available for only a very small number of
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O. A. Oribabor –
A REPORT OF INTERVENTION PROVISION FOR INFANT AND JUNIOR AGE CHILDREN WITH
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS IN A SMALL URBAN COMMUNITY IN
ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
these. Thirdly, given that speech therapy services were limited, it was felt that a unit or
language class was the best way of providing the requisite specialist help and resources.
The various professionals concerned agreed with the case presented. Discussions
involved mainly the speech therapist, principal medical officer, assistant director of
education (special education) and principal educational psychologist. A proposal to set
up an infant age speech and language class was put before the Education Committee
and this was accepted. (The authority points to a history of generous special education
and pre-school provision, with a wide range of purpose-built provision and more than
the national average of special school places.) It was hoped to provide a junior class as
well, but that decision was left pending at this stage. A school which had a spare
demountable on the edge of its playground was offered for use and, despite many
limitations, designated as the temporary home of the speech and language unit. The
class opened in June 2011 with five children and operated with its full complement of
eight children from the following September. Development was gradual, and all parties
testify to learning a great deal from experience. Some of these developments are
described below. The most significant of these was setting up a junior class. A good
many of those initially identified as needing specialist help were of junior age, but it
was two years - September 2015 - before a junior class was established.
This was in an adjacent demountable. The presence of the second language unit
made the existing site thoroughly unsuitable. Both classes eventually moved to a new
location in September 2012.
3. Aims and Organisation of the Provision
This special centre sees its primary function in relation to children with a specific
speech and language problem. This was the main criterion for admission into the
programme. Given this target group, the aim is one of eventual re-integration. The staff
seek to work with pupils in such a way that they will return to the ordinary classroom
full-time. The expressed aim is to "give children sufficient skills to cope with normal
full-time education". This of course has implications for admissions policy, since
children who were unlikely to return to full-time education would not be considered
well placed.
A further aim implicit in the centre's work and in many statements made about it
is to continue assessment and diagnosis. A ready and once-for-all diagnosis was not
possible for many of the centre's clientele. Diagnostic information was available from
the CDU which most children would have attended on a half-day basis over a two week
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O. A. Oribabor –
A REPORT OF INTERVENTION PROVISION FOR INFANT AND JUNIOR AGE CHILDREN WITH
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS IN A SMALL URBAN COMMUNITY IN
ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
period. Given the complex nature of language disorder, however, and the well-attested
difficulties of diagnosis and in particular of devising suitable educational programmes,
this information was only regarded as tentative and the starting point for more
prolonged work. Consequently, a further focus of the work was to refine diagnosis on
the basis of ongoing and varied interactions.
A unit model was adopted, as noted above, with first one class and then a
second. These are in separate rooms and carry out their daily activities separately
though with a good deal of contact and exchange between the two teachers. Their
curriculum overlaps and they exchange teaching groups on a regular basis. The teacher
in charge described "a flexible system of interaction" with frequent discussion of
difficulties and teaching problems. They come together for daily assembly and for
activities such as dance and games. They exchange groups for a morning once a week in
order to keep in touch with each other's teaching. Also, the junior teacher takes the
infants for music while the infant teacher has the junior for art.
Two unusual features of the centre's organisation are worth noting: its relative
independence of its host school; and its links with children's own neighbourhood
schools. The centre comes under the immediate jurisdiction 'of an assistant director of
education and the teacher in charge reports directly to him rather than to the head of
the host school. This is interesting in the context of Warnock recommendation 7.6,1 the
more so as the situation arose in part out of a concern to keep children in touch with
their own schools and facilitate their eventual return to them. There were other
considerations: it was never intended that this school would be more than a temporary
base; the site was unsuitable and militated against seeking close links. All of this meant
that the centre developed as an autonomous entity and functioned independently of the
host school. There were some exchanges of course, both of pupils and staff. These are
detailed below.
There are advantages and disadvantages in this arrangement. It does seem to
have militated against ready acceptance of the unit and easy integration of the children.
Staff have felt a certain pressure to 'sell' the centre, an activity that can take up time
which could have been spent in the centre itself. There has also been a tendency to make
sure that children from the centre do not make nuisances of themselves, and their
sometimes unusual patterns of behaviour are subjected to tighter control than might
otherwise be the case. As regards integration, both the teacher in charge and the adviser
concerned with it acknowledged that the amount of integration going on was less than
had been anticipated. A further consideration relates to the role of the head of the host
school and the degree of support that can be expected. While in this case staff found
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O. A. Oribabor –
A REPORT OF INTERVENTION PROVISION FOR INFANT AND JUNIOR AGE CHILDREN WITH
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS IN A SMALL URBAN COMMUNITY IN
ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
they received the support and commitment they wanted and needed, it is reasonable to
suppose that this support will not always be forthcoming.
Heads will feel less involved with pupils who fall outside their domain and are
not their responsibility. On the positive side, the direct link with senior officer level has
been very helpful. This is a relatively novel form of provision and one that is dependent
on a wide range of professional co-operation. The close involvement of a senior
administrator has helped considerably in establishing the centre and sorting out
teething problems. Furthermore, given the commitment to maintaining links with the
children's own neighbourhood schools, it was felt that too close a link with the host
school would, as far as the children were concerned, be undesirable, since they would
have to cope with a threefold identification - to the centre, to the host school and to their
own school.
The nature of the link with the neighbourhood school is highly unusual. The
children attend the centre for four days a week, and on Fridays go to their 'own'
schools. Broadly speaking, the arrangement is that the specialist language work is done
at the centre and the children fit in with whatever is going on at their own schools on
Friday. Some heads were reluctant at the outset and questioned the wisdom of the idea
- though they eventually came to welcome it. Also, as noted, it meant that the centre
stayed relatively detached from its host school. Staff felt there were good reasons for the
arrangement, however, and remained committed to it: it facilitated pupils' return to
their own school since they stayed on its roll and could not be 'disowned' by it, and also
they kept in touch with neighbourhood peers; school staff were kept up-to-date on a
pupil's progress, were informed on the means used to overcome his or her difficulties
and perhaps acquired some relevant skills themselves; and teachers at the language
classes were helped to keep in touch with the curriculum and standards of the
neighbourhood schools. Details on how the arrangement worked in practice are given
below under the sub-heading of integration.
While it was clear from the outset that the centre's concern was in general terms
with children who had speech and language problems, some difficulty was experienced
in formulating a clear-cut admissions policy. The difficulty arose from the range of
speech and language problems and the uncertainty of diagnosis and partly from the fact
that the different professionals involved had, because of their particular training
emphasis and experience, different conceptions of what the classes might achieve.
In the early days, some speech therapists were reluctant to make referrals to the
classes on the grounds that there were no explicit criteria governing admission.
Psychologists, too, tended to have a different view from speech therapists as to who
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O. A. Oribabor –
A REPORT OF INTERVENTION PROVISION FOR INFANT AND JUNIOR AGE CHILDREN WITH
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS IN A SMALL URBAN COMMUNITY IN
ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
were suitable candidates, and this led to some disagreement. (In fact, most of the early
referrals came from the speech therapist and educational psychologist assigned to the
centre.)
The staff concerned were unhappy about the situation as they felt they were
vulnerable in the absence of an explicit policy. After much meeting and consultation, a
policy document was fashioned out. The policy is presented as follows:
Admission criteria
1. Early referral is important, and it is preferable that children be referred before
the end of the first year in junior school.
2. 1t is appropriate that no child shall be considered for admission until he has had
one full term in normal school.
3. The Unit caters for those children who have failed to develop sufficient
communication skills to cope with ordinary school placement. These may be
described as children with retarded/
4. Disordered receptive and expressive language and/or articulation disorders, plus
associated difficulties in learning in the areas of reading, writing, etc.
5. The aim of the Unit is to give children sufficient skills to cope with normal fulltime education.
6. The Unit does not cater for those children who could best be described as being
predominantly handicapped in one or more of the following ways such that they
would require placement under the following headings.
a) ESN(M&S);
b) Partially-hearing;
c) Maladjusted;
d) Autistic;
e) Partially sighted;
f) Physically handicapped;
g) A child whose language impairment can be shown to be primarily related to
cultural factors and whose needs would be best met by minority support
services, etc.
h) A child whose language impairment can be shown to be the result of lack of
stimulation or appropriate learning environment.
This was a working document and the intention was to develop more positive
criteria based on what the centre can offer in the ways of curriculum, professional
support and so on.
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O. A. Oribabor –
A REPORT OF INTERVENTION PROVISION FOR INFANT AND JUNIOR AGE CHILDREN WITH
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS IN A SMALL URBAN COMMUNITY IN
ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
At the same time, an admissions procedure was formalised. The majority of
candidates would have been known to the Child Development Unit, and some
information should have been available on them. The formal procedure required 'clear
recommendations from the speech therapy and school psychological services'. Parental
permission should be sought, and the head of the school concerned should approve the
recommendation. The medical officer attached to the unit is responsible for collating
relevant information on children on the waiting list. The final decision about any child's
admission is based on the recommendation agreed by those present at the admissions
case conference. This comprises: assistant director of education (special education);
teacher in charge or other teacher when appropriate; speech therapist; educational
psychologist; and clinical medical officer.
In practice, admission conferences are held twice a year. They are held at the
centre, and the personnel listed are usually in attendance. Reports are available from a
speech therapist, psychologist and the school. (All the candidates will have been at
school for at least a term before being put up for admission.) The effective power of
decision seems to lie with the teacher in charge, the psychologist and the speech
therapist. These will usually have visited the school and obtained information from the
head or class teacher there. A difficulty in obtaining adequate hearing tests on some
children was reported in the early days, but this was subsequently resolved.
A particular problem was experienced in communicating to colleagues not
directly involved with the centre what sort of child it was catering for. Mention has
been made of the uneven pattern of referral from speech therapy and psychology. The
speech therapist and the psychologist assigned to the centre did arrange for their
colleagues to visit in small groups for an informal teach-in. It was felt, however, that it
would be unreasonable to expect all the speech therapists and psychologists to be
equally aware of the sort of child best suited to it. Not only would referrals be less
frequent from some, but they would in some cases not be as well documented. The
notion of routing all referrals through a single speech therapist and psychologist was,
however, rejected.
Most of the children who have been admitted to the centre have grossly defective
articulation. Their oral difficulties generally have a marked effect on their ability to cope
with such skills as reading and writing, even when comprehension is apparently within
normal limits. They span a wide range of intellectual functioning with full-scale IQs on
WISC or Stanford-Binet varying between 74 and 129. The severity of their disabilities
varies and centres on specific areas not necessarily related to intelligence. For example,
one pupil with IQ 128 at age 10 still had a marked articulation problem, described as
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O. A. Oribabor –
A REPORT OF INTERVENTION PROVISION FOR INFANT AND JUNIOR AGE CHILDREN WITH
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS IN A SMALL URBAN COMMUNITY IN
ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
'developmental dyspraxia'; he continued making vowel distortions, had discrepancies
in voicing consonants and disturbance in prosody which involved the inclusion of extra
syllables and atypical use of stress.
Staff described their clientele in terms of three groups, defined in relation to
specific developmental language disorder:
i.
Children with a deficit in comprehension with 'near normal' sounding speech;
ii.
Children with a deficit in both comprehension and expressive
language;
iii.
Children with seemingly adequate comprehension, but poor expressive
language.
The great majority of children fell into the second category, with only three out
of 36 falling into the first, comparatively rare group, and about six in the third group.
4. Staffing of the Intervention Programme
There were two teachers, a full-time nursery nurse (later they became two), a part-time
speech therapist, a secretary who comes one afternoon a week and on request, and a
dinner assistant either of the teachers had any formal background in language disorder.
(Until 1979 no training was available for language unit teachers other than the dual
speech therapy/ teaching qualification) The teacher in charge had had a main subject
option in educational subnormality in her basic teacher training and had experience of a
range of pupils with special needs and ways of treating them. She had not taught in
ordinary schools except on teaching practice. As she was in post for two terms before
the centre opened she had the opportunity to go on courses and visit various specialist
language provisions as well as providing peripatetic support for a large number of
children designated as having speech and language problems. The other teacher was
junior trained and taught for a year in primary school before spending two years in a
delicate school where there were a number of children with speech and language
problems. The ancillary was NNEB trained and had had a variety of experience,
including a year at the Child Development Unit, where many of the children would
have spent some time.
The speech therapist had worked in a language unit previously and also knew
the local schools quite well. She was assigned two and a half days per week to the infant
class initially, half a day of which was 'floating' to facilitate home and school visits. This
was later increased to three and a half days when the junior class opened. The
psychologist assigned had a generous allocation of time and visited at least weekly. As
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O. A. Oribabor –
A REPORT OF INTERVENTION PROVISION FOR INFANT AND JUNIOR AGE CHILDREN WITH
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS IN A SMALL URBAN COMMUNITY IN
ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
well as preparing reports for admissions and review case conferences, the psychologist
was involved in curriculum development and in following up children when they
returned full-time to their own school. It was considered advantageous for the speech
therapy and psychological services to keep the same person assigned to the centre for as
long as possible in order to maintain continuity. This happened in the case of speech
therapy but was not possible for psychology.
The centre did not have a social worker attached to it. A considerable number of
the children and their families seem likely to benefit from Social Services involvement,
yet the latter commonly has not been available. On occasion, it has been judged
necessary to involve the National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children to deal
with crises. The situation was generally considered to be unsatisfactory. It was accepted
that the job of running a language unit entailed a certain amount of contact between
staff and children's families, but the absence of a Social Services involvement meant that
teachers were on occasion taking on a social worker role - for which they had neither
the time nor the training. Some unease was expressed about this.
The initial accommodation, which has housed the centre on a temporary basis to
date, consists of two demountables at the edge of an infant playground. There is plenty
of space in these and they have been converted into attractive and stimulating
environments. They suffer from a number of drawbacks, however. First, the facilities
for individual speech therapy are inadequate: the infant classroom has only a noisy and
cramped stockroom, while the junior classroom has no withdrawal area. Secondly, the
buildings are prone to extremes of temperature, noisy and lacking in storage space; they
require constant attention from building services. Thirdly, the toileting facilities are
unsatisfactory, requiring as they do a long walk across an open playground, with no
facilities for dealing with 'accidents'. Fourthly, there is no grassed play area for ball
games, etc; this is considered quite a problem with a group which is hyperactive and
clumsy on the whole. It was hoped that these problems would be resolved when the
centre was rehoused in new premises.
Both classes are very well resourced, having an impressive array of toys,
educational materials and equipment. This stems in part from an initial generous grant
by the authority in setting them up and in part from money received from charities.
There is, as would be expected, a particular strength in literacy materials. These include:
Breakthrough to Literacy; Racing to Read; and DIST AR Language I. There are four
language masters and two tape recorders shared between the two classes. Curriculum
Package for the Programme. The working philosophy of the centre is based on normal
infant and junior teaching practice plus specific remediation provided on an individual
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O. A. Oribabor –
A REPORT OF INTERVENTION PROVISION FOR INFANT AND JUNIOR AGE CHILDREN WITH
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS IN A SMALL URBAN COMMUNITY IN
ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
basis. It is intended that the pupils should return to normal full-time education, so the
aim must be to provide them with sufficient skills to cope with this. These skills relate
to the patterns of problems the children exhibit, which can be specific reading and
writing disabilities, sequencing difficulties, poor short-term memory, laterality
problems and so on. Remediation must be carried out in such a way as to enhance the
possibility of returning to ordinary education. Children are kept in touch with the work
their age peers are doing through the centre's own programme as well as through
contact with their own schools.
The major part of the speech therapist's time is given over to working with
individuals, mainly for treatment but also for assessment. Infant class children are
withdrawn to a separate room for individual work. Treatment has a twofold focus:
promoting language development where it has been lacking; and remedying
inappropriate learning. As for assessment, tests such as the Reynell Developmental
Language Scales are used, but the emphasis is on informal ongoing observation based
on the child's patterns of language and interaction in the classroom.
Otherwise, the speech therapist works along with colleagues, especially the
teachers but also the psychologist, and pays some visits to parents and the children's
neighbourhood schools. Work with colleagues includes helping to clarify for individual
children how their use of language impinges upon educational progress; working out
individual programmes; and establishing a basic vocabulary and set of language
structures which it would be appropriate to expect of these children. Home visits are
used to establish rapport and gather information or supplement existing files. School
visits are also for the purpose of gathering information and finding out how the pupil is
coping, but they are for giving information as well: they can communicate to the class
teacher a realistic view of the pupil's actual and likely progress, get over "an idea of where
the child is at, what I think he might be doing". This exchange of information is of course
essential to ensuring that the school and centre act in concert and that the different
inputs the pupil receives complement each other.
The professionals involved with the centre attach considerable importance to
interdisciplinary working. There is evidence of good working relationships with a great
deal of informal contact focused on children and their families. There has been much
discussion of admission criteria in relation to the functions the centre should be
fulfilling - a topic where views have differed considerably.
A particular joint activity has been the task of developing an assessment profile
for the children. This is a set of categories, broken down in fine detail, for 'reading' a
child in terms of educational possibilities. The intention is that it should lead to detailed
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O. A. Oribabor –
A REPORT OF INTERVENTION PROVISION FOR INFANT AND JUNIOR AGE CHILDREN WITH
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS IN A SMALL URBAN COMMUNITY IN
ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
individual programmes, with objectives and means for attaining them spelt out
precisely. The class teacher monitors the programme in action and reports back so that
it can be modified and extended. It should be noted too that this can provide a very
detailed record of a given child's educational progress.
The categories finally arrived at were:
1. background information:
family developmental history;
linguistic development;
physical development;
2. language comprehension/expression;
3. learning skills;
4. reading;
5. writing;
6. number;
7. art/music;
8. physical activities;
9. science;
10. social/emotional skills.
This profile took a great deal of time to develop, and it was subject to a number
of limitations in practice. For some children a high degree of specificity was required;
the breakdown had to be very fine for it to be of practical use. It was difficult to carry
out for the older pupil since there was a wider range of development to take into
account and establishing baselines was more problematic. It imposed tight constraints
on teaching, and was in fact never implemented for the whole group. Nevertheless, the
exercise was judged to be of use in sharpening perceptions of pupils' problems and
ways of dealing with them; in monitoring their progress in a more accurate and
relevant way; and in helping the teacher to communicate with colleagues more
precisely.
5. Integration of the Programme
The question of integration raises particular considerations in this centre, since it has
links with a set of neighbourhood schools as well as its host school. As noted, the
amount of contact with the host school turned out to be less than expected. Aside from
playtime, the main contact was in PE lessons, music and movement, and occasional
swimming. (This was only for the infant class since the school was infant age.) Pupils
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O. A. Oribabor –
A REPORT OF INTERVENTION PROVISION FOR INFANT AND JUNIOR AGE CHILDREN WITH
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS IN A SMALL URBAN COMMUNITY IN
ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
did not join the main school assembly since it was considered too long, and also they
arrived in school too late. Lunch was taken in common at first, though at separate
tables; lack of space made this impossible when the junior class started, and all the
children took lunch in the special centre.
The centre has offered a form of integration in reverse for two children from the
host school. One child would not have qualified for a formal placement, but his
language development was slow and he was judged likely to benefit from the unit's
expertise. They attended part-time, with considerable improvement reported. It is not
intended to encourage the informal placement of children who have not been referred
formally; if too many children were placed in this way it could deflect the centre from
its proper purpose.
All pupils attend their own neighbourhood school on Friday. This idea met with
some resistance from heads at first - one objected strenuously to the notion of "being a
baby-minder on a Friday" - but most came to accept it and some were quite enthusiastic
about it. Class teachers varied in their reactions. Some took it in their stride, while
others were uncertain and apprehensive even. Much of the initial contact was with the
head, and class teachers commonly had a child from the centre for several months
before having direct contact with centre staff. This seems regrettable in view of the
benefits - of clarification and reassurance - claimed for such contact. One class teacher
said, “I felt I was working very much in the dark. X appeared on Friday and I didn't know what
he was doing for the rest of the week." She then met one of the staff and her attitude
changed dramatically; "the air was cleared" and she felt confident that she could "do the
right sorts of thing with him".
Most parties concerned - centre staff, main school staff, and parents saw the
benefits of this arrangement in terms of social rather than academic benefit, though
some heads had queried it on the grounds that little academic work was done at their
schools on Friday. A surprisingly common view was that no serious work could be
done on a one-day-a-week basis. The children would do their basics for four days at the
centre, with the Friday seen as providing general curriculum enrichment and the
opportunity to hear normal speech patterns. No particular changes were made to
accommodate them and they had to make whatever sense they could of what was going
on. Some schools did take care to ensure that academically the time was not wasted.
One school, for instance, had all pupils working individually or in very small groups on
the Friday morning, so that the visiting pupil could have something tailored specifically
to his or her needs. In the afternoon, the class worked as a group on projects that were
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O. A. Oribabor –
A REPORT OF INTERVENTION PROVISION FOR INFANT AND JUNIOR AGE CHILDREN WITH
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS IN A SMALL URBAN COMMUNITY IN
ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
self-contained and did not refer back to work done in the week in the child's absence or
forward to the next week.
One regular form of communication between centre and school is the work
folder which accompanies the child each week. (This is also taken home.) It contains his
or her timetable at the centre, an outline of current work, and workbooks. The latter
might include a reading book, language master cards, speech therapy work and a
homework book. Teachers used the folder to find out what work pupils had been doing
during the week. It served as a guide in drawing up appropriate work for the Friday
and also offered a means of communication with centre staff. Some teachers seemed to
make little use of it, however, and in at least one instance claimed not to be able to make
sense of it. This folder would seem to offer an excellent opportunity for ensuring
continuity of curriculum, and it is unfortunate that it has not been used more widely whether for lack of detail in the contents of the folder or for insufficient contact between
the teachers.
The problem of continuity looms larger as pupils get older and are considered
for full-time placement in their own school. A transfer is usually phased over a period
of time, with the pupil attending for two days a week, and then three before eventually
attending full-time. As yet, few children have gone through this process, but it is
evident that close attention to the detail of a child's academic programme is necessary if
the transition is not to be confusing and educationally weakening. It should be noted
that a decision on transfer is based on factors such as improvement in speech to a point
where the pupil can communicate fairly readily; independence of the teacher in
classroom work; stability and emotional maturity; and ability to handle relationships
with age peers at the host school. Information is also obtained on how he or she is
fitting into the local school on the Fridays, and how the integration programme
generally is going.
A main aim of the 'four plus one' arrangement was to enable children to
maintain contact with their own schools. This seems to have been achieved in the main,
with some very encouraging progress, in spite of the attendant problems. Many of the
children found the experience difficult at first but in most cases settled down
eventually. One boy suffered considerable anguish and on Fridays produced floods of
tears. At the time of interview, however, he looked forward to going to his own school
and without hesitation named three or four friends there. The class teacher did observe,
however, after a visit to the centre that he seemed much more outgoing and confident
there than at the school.
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Another boy had been very withdrawn prior to going to the centre - "If we spoke
to him he would weep ... there was no attempt to take part in anything." Now, by contrast "he
will come and talk ... brings messages ... bring dinner money ...”
Parents acknowledged these difficulties too but felt that it had been worth
persevering. One parent pointed to a particular problem at the beginning of the school
year when the children have to adjust to a new teacher, new classroom, new place to
hang coats; the other children take it in their stride, but a child from the centre has only
one day a week to absorb it all. Parents likewise seemed unconcerned about teasing.
Little had been reported, and the view that 'anyway they've got to get used to it'. One
school sought to pre-empt any teasing by being very open about the situation: the class
teacher prepared the class by discussing the new arrival with them and putting the
boy's speech problem in the context of individual differences generally and the
problems other people have. This approach was claimed to be very successful.
In two cases long-term difficulties were reported, where children were regularly
absent, were not settling down, and did not seem to be benefiting from the experience.
One child in particular was very immature for his age and had difficulty in moving
from the warm and relatively freewheeling atmosphere of the centre to a school where
there was considerable emphasis on academic standards and correct behaviour. In both
cases, centre staff suspected parents of colluding in the children's absences. Both cases
point up the need for close liaison between home, school and centre staff if this
arrangement is to succeed.
One of the principal difficulties of this provision has been the establishing of
adequate liaison between centre staff and school staff. The former acknowledged the
importance of this: for breaking down opposition to the children's presence in their
schools; for convincing colleagues that what they themselves have to offer is useful; and
for transmitting the necessary skills for teaching and managing these children. They
admitted that the situation was far from satisfactory: contact in many cases was
insufficient; class teachers were not getting the support they needed; and the requisite
skills were not being transmitted.
A number of reasons can be advanced for this. First, contact with the school was
through the head, and sometimes stopped there. It was claimed that the effort of
'selling' the work of the centre and legitimating the need for direct contact with the class
teacher took a disproportionate amount of time. If this happened, the absence of direct
contact meant that class teachers and centre staff were unaware or uncertain of ways in
which they could usefully work together. Two teachers who eventually visited the
centre found it an eye-opening experience and one with considerable implications for
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ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
their perceptions of the child and how they treated him. Both regretted not having
made the visit much earlier. Thirdly, the absence of a systematic procedure for regular
two-way visiting between centre and school made for sporadic and ad hoc contact. It
would seem essential, for instance, that class teachers be released to visit the centre as
early as possible in the school year. This would provide the basis for regular and direct
contact between centre staff and the class teacher throughout the year.
It should be noted that staff were tackling this problem in a concerted way by the
end of our study. A number of steps were being taken. All class teachers and head
teachers were asked to visit the centre during the child's first week there. A programme
of visits to neighbourhood schools was drawn up for the year, and letters were sent to
head teachers explaining the purpose of the visits and requesting some time with the
class teacher on her/his own. All visits to schools are written up and kept available in a
central file so that other staff at the centre is aware of whatever con tact there has been.
A series of general meetings for teachers with pupils at the centre was also planned. The
first such meeting, which attracted a total of 20 teachers, was given over to describing
the nature of specific speech and language disorder and included the viewing of a
videotape about speech handicaps.
6. Parents’ Involvement in the Programme
Staff have good relations with parents. Open days are held where the work of the centre
is explained. This is valued by parents for the sense it gives of being involved in the
effort to remediate their child's problems. There is a general policy of open house, and
parents are encouraged to make contact whenever they wished. Many of them do so, by
telephone and visit. Some home visits are made. More recently, these have been made
at the same time as school visits to provide continuity; as with the latter, all visits are
written up and details entered in a central file.
Much of this contact seems to be at the level of a befriending service on the part
of the staff. Occasionally it is more than that. Some of the family backgrounds are
excessively difficult and, as noted, social services involvement is not readily obtained.
In these cases staff find themselves taking on social worker roles. In another case where
a boy was suffering rejection because of difficult behaviour at home, the teacher drew
on Portage ideas to devise a programme of behavioural objectives. Home school books
are used as a means of regular contact with parents and also to pursue didactic ends.
With younger children, they may just note items of interest, some from parents, some
from teacher. As they get older and communication skills increase, the books become
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ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
more structured. Children take them home at weekends with detailed work for them to
do and sometimes a specific involvement on the part of parents. Parents sometimes
respond with queries and comments on particular difficulties, suggesting alternative
ways of doing things or even setting their own homework. It should be noted that these
home-school books are used with all children whose parents are willing and able to cooperate usually about three-quarters of the parent body.
7. Summary
This provision for pupils with speech and language problems has been running for four
years. I t started life as a single class for infants and expanded after two years to take in
a junior class. Many problems have had to be solved: unsuitable location; lack of
experience in running language classes - there were few models to draw on; difficulty in
identifying target clientele; an unusual mode of integration; some resistance from staff
in ordinary schools. On the plus side, there has been a committed staff, working with
co-operation from Area Health and other Education staff.
There has been considerable progress and the centre has developed into an
effective provision for a small group of pupils whose quite specialised needs were not
being met prior to this. Of 16 pupils who have left, 11 have returned to normal
education full-time, four are attending day ESN schools, and one has gone to a
residential school for speech and language disordered children. A further three children
are attending normal school for more than one day a week preparatory to returning
full-time. The problems have not disappeared but much progress has been made: new
premises have been acquired; staff have built up experience; the referring agencies have
a clearer idea of the type of child that can benefit most; and many heads and teachers
from the schools are well disposed toward the work of the centre.
The future shape of the centre will perhaps depend on its responses to five major
questions:
1. How will it adjust to its new location? What response will it make to the
opportunities for contact and exchange with its new host school?
2. Will the centre have a role for those pupils whose needs are not serious enough
to warrant a place at the centre but who have a significant speech or language
problem that could be ameliorated by the expertise of centre staff? How would
this work out in practice?
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3. Given the need for more effective contact with the neighbourhood schools, will it
be possible to achieve this and support class teachers in a systematic way? Will
the new arrangements resolve the difficulties found in the past?
4. What provision will be made for those pupils who reach secondary age without
being in a position to return to full-time education?
5. In view of the difficulties experienced with some pupils after they returned to
ordinary schooling, as reported in the appendix, will arrangements be made to
monitor pupils' progress over the longer term and provide further help as
necessary?
Appendix: Follow-up study often leavers
Following the idea of Taylor,(2012) the first teacher in charge carried out a follow-up
study of the first 10 pupils who returned to ordinary schooling full-time. At the time of
the study, they had been discharged from the centre and in their schools full-time for
periods from two months to three years.
All 10 teachers affirmed that the ordinary school was the best place for these
pupils. Seven teachers, however, felt that they needed extra help and personal attention,
and four had definite reservations about their capacity to cope academically in the
future, especially at secondary level. As regards current academic progress, five pupils
were rated as average or above; the other five all had problems with the mechanics of
reading and fluency and were judged the worst readers in their classes. Six were the
worst spellers in their classes with sequencing and phonic work a particular problem.
When asked about children's particular strengths, teachers described five as good at art
and three at games.
Socially, the pupils seem to have done quite well. One was described as isolated
socially, and three in fact were described as very popular. Eight had special friends. No
teasing was reported. Most of them related well to staff, but four were described as shy
- "Seems to have to rehearse things before she says them", "Still somewhat diffident" and so on.
The ability to integrate socially was felt to be associated with personality factors rather
than language skills.
Little or no support was available to teachers to assist them with dealing with
these pupils. The report speaks of 'a singular lack of any regular help'. This is in the
context of (a) none of the teachers having any relevant training and (b) eight teachers
saying that they 'definitely felt unclear' about the pupils' problems. Moreover, the
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detailed information on each pupil passed to the schools did not reach the teacher in
several instances.
References
1. Department of Education and Science (2012). Total or partially hearing children
(education survey). London: HMSO
2. Foll W.S. (1943). An enquiry into the use of speech in after-school life.
Unpublished thesis, university of Manchester.
3. Gulliford, R. (1971). Special educational needs. London: Routledge & Kegan
Paul.
4. Hamp, N. W. (2011). Picture aided reading test. Northampton: Arkle Goodman.
5. Hegarty, S. and Pocklington, K. (1981). Educating pupils with special needs in
the ordinary school. Windsor: Nfer-Nelson.
6. Jackson, S. (1971). Get reading right. London: Robert Gibson.
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ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
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