3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Pilot study: Home, school and community participation of children attending a special needs school in South Africa: Barriers and supports(2017) Behrens, Theresa JuanitaBackground: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is an important framework when describing disability. Participation is seen as the “ultimate goal in rehabilitation” and is a multidimensional construct. The environment has a significant influence on the participation of children and is an important aspect of intervention. Therefore measuring the participation of children in various environments is crucial. The Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY) is a fairly new tool that was developed to determine participation in relation to certain environmental aspects. The aim of this pilot study was to describe the patterns of participation in the home, school and community of children attending a learner with special educational needs school (LSEN) in Gauteng province, South Africa. Objectives: To examine patterns of home, school and community participation and environmental factors that affect home, school and community participation of children attending a special needs school using the PEM-CY. To determine if there is a difference in participation based on whether the child attends Academic phase, Special phase or Vocational phase schooling and based on the child's primary diagnosis using the PEM-CY. Methods: The PEM-CY was piloted in this sample of 378 parents of children attending the LSEN school between the ages of five and 17. One hundred questionnaires were analysed. Findings: There were no significant differences found between the groups. The results showed that participation in the home and school was good, children participated with regular frequency and involvement. Participation in the community was fairly regular, with good involvement, however with low frequency. The results showed that the participation was lower compared to children without disabilities in some instances, similar to previous research with regards to the participation of children with disabilities. However, in some activities the children in this study participated at a level similar to children without disabilities. Parents desired changes in extra-mural type activities and special roles at schools. Barriers to participation were mainly financial, lack of programmes and services, information, social demands and cognitive demands. Parents felt supported when they received sufficient information and additional supplies for assistive devices or school supplies. Conclusion: The PEM-CY has been proven useful in this group of children and it is recommended that future studies validate it for use in the South African population.