The Use of Interactive Methods in Teaching Communication Skills to Learning Disabled, Visually Impaired and Hearing Impaired Children in an Inclusive Primary Educational Setting

Abstract

This study examined the use of interactive methods in teaching communication skills to learning disabled, visually impaired and hearing impaired children in an inclusive educational setting. The study tried to ascertain the relevance of interactive method and its effect on the teaching of communication skills to the group of exceptional children identified. The experimental design of study was adopted with the pre-test, post-test and control group. Two research questions and hypotheses were formulated. The population of this study included both "normal" and children with special needs in the categories of learning disabled, visually impaired and hearing impaired A sample of 18 subjects was drawn for the study. Two sets of instruments were used for data. They included a questionnaire and Teacher Made Interactive/lctivities (TMIA) tests. Data were collected and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics and it was discovered that children in the experimental group could read and express themselves better than those in the control group. Thus, there is agreement that children in the inclusive educational setting perform better than those in the reverse integrated education setting. Based on the findings the use of interactive method is recommended in teaching communication skills to special needs children in an inclusive educational setting.