The Level of Knowledge of Teachers of Children with Intellectual Disabilities about the Applied Behavior Analysis Approach and Its Techniques in the State of Kuwait

Sara Mubarak Joma’A Mahboub Mubarak

doi:10.5296/ije.v13i1.18460

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge of teachers of children with intellectual disabilities about the applied behavior analysis approach and its techniques in Kuwait. It tested the differences in the level based on: the type of school, experience and gender. The study sample consisted of (160) teachers worked in schools of children with intellectual disabilities in the academic year (2019/2020).To achieve the objectives of this study, the test of "Applied Behavior Analysis Approach and Its Techniques" was applied. The results indicated that the overall level was low. The dimension of “general principles of the Applied Behavior Analysis approach” was the highest with intermediate level score, followed by the “techniques of Applied Behavior Analysis”, and “practical applications of the techniques of applied behavior analysis”. Both of them with low level score.The results showed that there are no significant differences in the total score and all sub-dimensions based on the school type. There are no significant differences in the total score and in the dimensions: techniques of applied behavior analysis and practical applications of applied behavior analysis techniques, based on the experience. Based on the experience, there are significant differences in the general principles of the applied behavior analysis approach, in favor of those teachers with experience of more than 10 years. There are significant differences in the total score, and in the dimensions of: the general principles of the applied behavior analysis approach and techniques of applied behavior analysis based on the variable of gender, in favor of males.This study recommends conducting a study to assess levels of special education teachers in the approach of applied behavior analysis, as a foundation of conduct future training.

Highlights

Achieving a school environment that represents an integrated life for learners is a basic requirement that will enrich their lives and enable them to develop all capabilities to reach their maximum limits
The results are important to determine the level of theoretical knowledge of teachers about behavioral interventions, and enrich the Arab library, including the Kuwaiti library, with theoretical content on applied behavior analysis with its techniques, especially with its scarcity in the country. In pursuit of these objectives, the study tries to answer the following questions: 1. What is the level of knowledge of teachers of children with intellectual disabilities about applied behavior analysis techniques in Kuwait?
To answer the first question: What is the level of knowledge of teachers of children with Intellectual Disability (ID) about Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and its techniques in Kuwait? The correspondents’ means and standard deviations of the "ABA and its techniques" test were extracted

Summary

Introduction

Achieving a school environment that represents an integrated life for learners is a basic requirement that will enrich their lives and enable them to develop all capabilities to reach their maximum limits. The enrollment of children, especially the younger with intellectual disabilities, does not necessarily guarantee that their teachers possess the strategies and skills that meet their needs, especially in the presence of the challenges posed by their disability Such challenges prevent them from achieving the desired benefit from the education process, especially when knowing that the intellectual disability is considered one of the most common developmental disorders in the world. It affects between (3-5%) of the total population. It can be associated with another disability, which complicates the treatment (Srivastava and Schwartz, 2014)

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