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Training for the moderately retarded child : the effects of habilitation work for the moderately retarded child on his social functioning and family acceptability ; a preliminary survey, based on material from the Woodlands School, B.C., 1961-1962

University of British Columbia

Experimental teaching techniques and classroom facilities have recently been brought into use at The Woodlands School, to train the category of children resident in The School who can be described as moderately retarded. An exploratory study has been conducted and the main features of this programme set out, to ascertain whether the progress of the children is significant and whether this has had any influence on their family acceptability. With the cooperation of The Woodlands School Staff, and from the parents, a sample group of boys, aged eight to seventeen, was chosen for study. The boys are resident at the institution and attend the special training classes; their parents reside within a thirty-five mile distance from Vancouver. A Social Competency Rating Scale was adapted from one utilized in a San Francisco study and applied to two specific times, (a) before the child received training in the special training classes and, (b) after at least one year's training. This scale permits an assessment of the degree of each child's progress in social competency. A second rating scale, designed to assess the degree to which parental acceptability of the child was influenced by the training and its results, was applied by utilizing a projective interviewing technique. It was found that the social competency of the sample group of boys has improved considerably; coincident with this, there has also been an opening up of areas of knowledge and experience which are stimulating the children to more constructive use of their time, and giving them reward through greater enjoyment of living. Parental acceptance of the children has noticeably increased. The review suggests that more inclusive services, including medical diagnostic and social work counselling, should be made available to parents of retarded children. Residential training facilities should also be extended to non-metropolitan areas of the province.

Text

2011-11-18

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/39146

Social Work

University of British Columbia

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