PROBLEMS EDUCATING THE PHYSICALLY CHALLANGED CHILDREN IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

1.1       INTRODUCTION

The handicapped children are gifted children who have the ability to be educated irrespective of their disabilities, like the deaf, the blind, the dumb, lame etc. there is a need to redirect national interest, support and understanding for the plight of the disabled away from the traditional attitude of seeing them as qualified only for aims.

A situation where handicapped persons, expect those who could be taken care of by their families are relegated to relyn on public emotions expressed in the form of alms, does not augur well for our sense of social responsibility. Yunusa (1993) believes that physical handicapped does not mean they cannot contribute their quota to various facets of national development. Therefore, the handicapped students in Edo State posses the talents and all the aggregate of learning just like their counterparts at school. Education which is a life process must be provided for every individual, the physically handicapped inclusive. The term ‘handicap’ can be viewed in many ways mainly psychological and maladjustment.

WHO IS A HANDICAPPED CHILD?

          A handicapped child is a child that lacks some things that made him/her incapable of living like other children, it could be the hands, legs, eyes, ears, etc in reverie day life, the term handicap is often used to signify a physical defect, limb paralysis, partial or total blindness etc. all these features renders the child incapable of living in quite the same ways as the normally endowed.

          The term handicapped when used in a wider sense include intellectual disabilities and disadvantages, which are to cause learning hardship. In the light of the above discussion, the study will look into various hardship likely to be faced by the handicapped child I school., previous researchers have revealed that Behaviour are judged in terms of the societal existing standard therefore the ability of the handicapped can be under estimated by their teachers because already they are termed “special children”. Many assume that they cannot perform as well as the naturally endowed students.

This study will examine the various problems facing the education of the handicap ones.

1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS

This study is to assess the problem of the handicapped students in schools in Edo State.

1.3       PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

To identify the handicapped conditions that are suitable for learning.

To consider the effects of the physically handicapped on the career of the physically handicapped students.

To correct the general belief of people that handicapped students cannot contribute significantly to the society.

To assess the problems of the handicapped students in schools in Benin City and Edo State in general.

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

a.    Does being handicapped affects students performance in learning?

b.    Are there no special problems that prevent the handicapped students from performing effectively in learning?

c.    Is it not possible for handicaps to take part in learning activities like other normal students?

1.5       BASIC ASSUMPTIONS

a.    That being handicapped does not affect student’s performance in learning.

b.    That there are no special problems that prevent the handicapped students from performing effectively in learning.

c.    That it is not possible for handicaps to take part in learning activities like the normal students. 

1.6       DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The investigation embraces only one type of handicapped condition, which is physical deformity. This study will be carried out in five schools in Benin City with handicapped children.

1.7       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

i.     Handicapped students need extra attention in order to be successful.

ii.    They need special attention from their teachers before they can learn effectively.

iii.   There are no special problems that can prevent the handicapped children not to learn.

iv.   The responsibilities of teachers to the handicapped students has to be gr4eatly improved than that of the normal students. 

1.8       DEFINITIONS OF TERMS 

Handicap: This implies the inconveniences an individual encounter as a result of its impairments thereby hindering a person from living a normal life.

Disability: This is a loss of ability of activity restriction or disturbance of the activity level of an individual.

REFERENCES

The epidemiology of developmental disabilities in low-income countries. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 2002, 8:206-211. 27. Grantham-McGregor S et al. Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries. Lancet, 2007, 369:60-70. 28. Barron T, Ncube J. Poverty and disability. London, Leonard Cheshire Disability, 2010. 29. Disability, poverty and development: DFID issues document. London, Department for International Development, 2000 . pdf, accessed 12 June 2012). 30. Walker SP et al. Inequality in early childhood: risk and protective factors for early child development. Lancet, 2011, 378:1325-1338.