A Study to assess the Knowledge of Autism among the Primary School Teachers in Vellore District

 

Muthulakshmi. C¹, Yamuna. N²

¹Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Saveetha College of Nursing, Chennai-602105

²IV Yr Student, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Saveetha College of Nursing, Chennai-602105,

 

ABSTRACT:

Autism is a neurodevelopment disorder characterized by restricted , repetitive, stereotyped patterns of behaviour, interests and activity and the aim of the study is to assess the knowledge of autism among the 30 primary school teachers in Vellore district. 30 samples were recruited in probability convenient sampling technique ;descriptive study was used with a semi structured questions and the result of the study was (72.5%) of primary school teachers have inadequate knowledge and (27.5%) of primary school teachers have moderate knowledge on autism the study level suggested , it is important to create an awareness among the primary school teachers ;by creating an awareness among school teachers helps in improving their health.

 

 

 

1. INTRODUCTION:

Children are the most important assess and wealth of the nation. When the child grows and develops into an adult stage, along with the physiological development, the child’s mental capabilities also need to be developed during this process of growth and development child may suffer from many physical and behavioural problems. children’s are at the school for the larger part of the time for the emotional and physical development.

 Autism is a neurodevelopment disorder characterized by restricted behaviour, repetitive, stereotyped patterns of behaviour , interest and activity. Autism with a male to female ratio of 3:1. There are about 2.3 million children with autism spectrum disorders in India. Autism is caused by the combination of genetic and environmental factors. Risk factors include certain infection during pregnancy, such as rubella and valproic acid alcohol or cocaine during pregnancy. Autism affects information processing in brain by alternating how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize.

 

 

MATERIALS AND METHOD:

Research approach:

Quantitative approach

 

RESEARCH DESIGN:

The research design is descriptive design

 

Setting:

The study was conducted in Nammakal teachers vidhyaasharam matric Hr.sec school in Vellore

 

Population:

The target population of the study is primary school teachers who are working in private schools in Vellore

 

Sample:

Sample in this study refers to all the primary school teachers working in Nammakal teachers vidhyaasharam matric hr. sec school in Vellore

 

Sample size:

The sample size of this study consists of 30 primary school teachers

 

Sampling technique:

The sampling technique is convenient sampling technique

 

 

Criteria for sample selection:

Inclusion criteria:

The primary school teacher who are willing to participate.

 

The primary school teachers who know English and Tamil.

 

The primary school teachers who are present at the time of data collection.

 

Exclusion criteria:

The primary school teachers who do not cooperate.

 

The primary school teachers who are not willing to participate.

 

Description of the tool:

Section A:

Demographic variables

 

Section B:

Structured multiple choice questionnaire

 

part1:

Demographic variables of the primary school teachers. It consists of age, gender, educational qualification, year of experience, autism training attended and have you come across the autistic child before.

 

part ll:

Structured questionnaire Assessment tool includes 20 multiple choice questions to assess the knowledge regarding autism.

 

RESULT:

Distribution of level of knowledge of primary school teachers regarding autism spectrum disorder among the children.

 

Reveals that the knowledge of mean is 9.77 and standard deviation is 1.36

 

In this out of 30 samples 8(27%) had moderate knowledge , 22(73%) had the inadequate level of knowledge regarding autism spectrum disorder

 

 

Table 1: Distribution of level of knowledge of primary school teachers regarding autism among children.

S.NO	LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE	SAMPLE NUMBER	PERCENTAGE
1.	Adequate knowledge	-	-
2.	Moderate knowledge	8	27%
3.	Inadequate knowledge	22	73%

 

 

Table-1: shows that out of 30 samples 8 (27%) had moderate knowledge , 22 (73%) had the moderate level of knowledge regarding autism spectrum disorder

 

 

Figure-1: Distribution of level of knowledge of primary school teachers regarding autism.

 

Figure 1: Among 30 samples, 73% have moderate knowledge, 27% have moderate knowledge about awareness of autism.

 

DISCUSSION:

The Aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of autism among the primary school teachers .the nurse should encourage to create knowledge on autism among the teachers . Advanced education in nursing prepares a nurse to take independent discussion and function independently to advocate patient right for health care which is appropriate . the nursing administration can improve knowledge among the staff nurse through development programme like in service education and contuning education programme.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT:

The author are grateful to the authorities of Saveetha College of Nursing, Saveetha Medical College And Hospital.

 

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

The Authors declare no conflict of interest.

 

REFERENCES:

1.     Jones SC, Harwood V. Representations of autism in Australian print media. Disability School 2009;24:5‑18.

2.     Kim YS, Leventhal BL, Koh YJ, Fombonne E, Laska E, Lim EC, et al .Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in a total population sample .Am J Psychiatry 2011;168:904‑12.

3.     Rodríguez IR, Saldaña D, Moreno FJ. Support, inclusion, and special education teachers’ attitudes toward the education of students with autism spectrum disorders. Autism Res Treat 2012;2012:259468.

4.     Campbell JM, Barger BD. Middle school students’ knowledge of autism. J Autism Dev Disorder 2011;41:732‑40.

5.     Arif MM, Niazy A, Hassan B, Ahmed F. Awareness of autism in primary school teachers. Autism Res Treat 2013;2013:961595.

6.     Miller VA, Schreck KA, Mulick JA, Butter E. Factors related to parents’ choices of treatments for their children with autism spectrum disorders. Res Autism Spectr Disord 2012;6:87‑95.

 

 

Accepted on 20.08.2018        © RJPT All right reserved

Research J. Pharm. and Tech 2018; 11(11): 4805-4806.