EFFECT OF APPLIED BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS ON SOCIAL SKILLS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF PUPILS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Authors

  • Dorothy Ebere Adimora Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria,Nsukka, Nigeria,Email: ebere.adimora@unn.edu.ngNsukka. Post code- 410001- Nigeria Author
  • Friday Mamudu Adene Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria,Nsukka, Nigeria,Email: ebere.adimora@unn.edu.ngNsukka. Post code- 410001- Nigeria Author
  • Monica Obiageli Omeje Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria,Nsukka, Nigeria,Email: ebere.adimora@unn.edu.ngNsukka. Post code- 410001- Nigeria Author
  • Juliana Ngozi Ejiofor Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria,Nsukka, Nigeria,Email: ebere.adimora@unn.edu.ngNsukka. Post code- 410001- Nigeria Author
  • Edmund Eberechukwu Offordile Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria,Nsukka, Nigeria,Email: ebere.adimora@unn.edu.ngNsukka. Post code- 410001- Nigeria Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61841/8fr2he47

Keywords:

Autism, Behaviour Analysis, Social Skills and Academic Achievement

Abstract

 Objectives: Autism is a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder. The study investigated the

prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) amongst primary school pupils in Enugu State,

Nigeria.

Design: Pretest-Posttest non-equivalent control group design, with the experimental group

adopting applied behaviour analysis (ABA) intervention and the control group using

conventional method.

Materials and Methods: Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study.

The population comprised all the pupils identified with ASD in Enugu State, Nigeria. The

sample comprises 36 pupils identified with ASD in schools used. The instruments were

observation schedule, semi-structured interview schedule and 4- point Likert-type

questionnaire administered to elicit information on pupils’ social skills while their academic

achievement test scores were used to ascertain their academic achievement. Research

questions were analysed using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested

using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) statistic at 0.05 probability level.

Results: The results showed that exposing pupils with ASD to ABA intervention boosted their

social skills and academic achievement scores. Parents of children exposed to intensive ABA,

report greater reductions in daily stress than parents of children with other treatments.

Conclusions: exposing pupils with ASD to ABA is efficacious in enhancing their social skills

and academic achievement 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

[1] American Psychiatric Association (2000) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental

Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) 4th, Text revision edition. Washington, DC: American

Psychiatric Association.

[2] Prachi ES, Richard D, Neil WB.Autistic Disorder. In: Behrman RE, Kliegman RM,

Jenson HB. (eds). Nelson textbook of Pediatrics 18thEdition W.B. Sanders Company

2007; chapter 29.1:74-75.

[3] Paul, N.I and Gabriel-Brisibe, C.U. (2015) Awareness of autism amongst primary school

teachers in Yenagoa city, Bayelsa State. Niger J Paed 2015; 42 (1): 46 – 50.

[4] Anuforo (2015) The guardian. Promoting education on management of autism. Retrieved

from http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/02/promoting-education-onmanagement-of-autism/.

[5] Autism Speaks Inc (2015) Relationship development Intervention: Retrieved from

https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/relationship-developmentintervention-rdi.

[6] No Author (2015) Relationship Development Intervention. Retrieved from

https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/relationship-developmentintervention-rdi.

[7] Weiss, M.J (2013) Behavior analytic interventions for developing Social Skills in

Individuals with Autism. Retrieved from

http://archive.brookespublishing.com/documents/Gerhardt_social-skills.pdf

[8] Bellini, S., Peters, J., Benner, L, & Hopf, A. (2007) A Meta-Analysis of School -Based

Social Skills Interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders, Journal of

remedial and special education, 28 (3), 153-162.

[9] Walker, H.M. (1983). The ACCESS program: Adolescent curriculum for communication

and effective social skills: Student study guide. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed

[10] Zins, J., Weissbert, R., Wang, M., & Walberg, H. (2004). Building academic success on

social and emotional learning: What does the research say? New York: Teachers

College Press.

[11] NASP (2015) Social Skills: Promoting Positive Behaviour, Academic Success, and

School Safety. Retrieved from

http://www.nasponline.org/resources/factsheets/socialskills_fs.aspx.

[12] Obiozor, W.E, Onu, V.C and Ugwuegbu, I (2010) Academic and social challenges

facing students with developmental and learning disabilities in higher institutions:

Implications to African colleges and universities 1 (1) 126-140.

[13] Ward, A, Stoker, H.W, Murray-Ward, M (1996) "Achievement and Ability Tests -

Definition of the Domain", Educational Measurement2, University Press of America,

pp. 2–5, ISBN 978-0-7618-0385-0.

[14] Steinmayr, R;Meißner, A Weidinger, A.F;Linda Wirthwein (2014) Academic

achievement. Retrieved from

http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756810/obo-

9780199756810-0108.xml.

[15] Baer, D., Wolf, M., & Risley, R. (1968) Some current dimensions of applied behavior

analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 91 - 97.

[16] Sulzer-Azaroff, B. & Mayer, R. (1991) Behavior analysis for lasting change. Fort

Worth, TX : Holt, Reinhart & Winston, Inc.

[17] Morris, B.K (2015) Introduction to applied behaviour analysis. Retrieved from

http://www.autism-help.org/intervention-applied-behavioral-analysis.htm

[18] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC,2009) Prevalence of Autism

Spectrum Disorders Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network,

United States. MMWR Surveillance Summaries 2009; 58(SS-10

Downloads

Published

30.06.2021

How to Cite

Ebere Adimora, D., Mamudu Adene, F., Obiageli Omeje, M., Ngozi Ejiofor, J., & Eberechukwu Offordile, E. (2021). EFFECT OF APPLIED BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS ON SOCIAL SKILLS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF PUPILS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 25(3), 55-66. https://doi.org/10.61841/8fr2he47