Practitioners Perception of causes and consequences Challenging behaviour presented by Learners with Autistic spectrum Disorders (ASDs) in primary schools

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify the practitioner’s perception of the causes of challenging behaviour presented by learners with ASDs in primary schools in western Kenya.  146 practitioners comprising of 106 teachers and 40 teacher aides participated in the study.  Data was collected using challenging behaviour questionnaire that had two parts. Part one was used to determine practitioners’ cognitive perception of the causes of challenging behaviour while part two determined their perception of the consequences of challenging behaviour. A one-way between-groups multivariate analysis of variance was performed to investigate job title, professional qualification, and experience of working with learners with ASDs in relation to perception of the causes of challenging behaviour.  Seven   dependent variables were used to elicit the practitioners’ perception of the causes of challenging behaviour presented by learners with ASDs. These were Biological, psychodynamic, ecological, behavioral, humanistic, sociological and psychological challenging behavior perception. The independent variables were job title, length of service and professional qualification. The finding of this study indicates that there was no statistically significant difference among the three independent variables on the combined dependent variables.  There were no significant differences in perception of the causes of challenging behaviour based on age, experience and professional qualifications. Teachers perceived challenging behaviour presented by learners with ASDs as time line episodic while teacher aides perceived it as a more permanent feature for learners with ASDs. Teachers also perceived their ability to control challenging behaviour higher than the teacher aides.  It emerged that practitioners’ perceived challenging behaviour as having consequences to learners, their peers, parents and practitioners. These factors need to be considered in designing programmes for management of challenging behaviour presented by learners with ASDs.

Keywords: Autistic spectrum Disorders, Challenging behaviour, Perception Consequences