Teachers’ perception of the prevalence and causes of behaviour disorders among children with intellectual disabilities in Ibadan, Oyo state

Abstract

This study investigated teachers’ perception of the prevalence of behaviour disorders among children with intellectual disabilities in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The independent variable considered in the study is teachers’ perception while the prevalence of behaviour disorders among children with intellectual disabilities in Ibadan is the dependent variable. The study adopted a survey research design. Fifty (50) teachers were selected from five schools and a care-giving center in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria as participants. A validated questionnaire named “Teachers’ Perception of the Prevalence of Behaviour Disorders among Pupils with Intellectual Disabilities” (TPPBDPID) r = 0.78 was used as instrument to gather data for the study. Data were analysed using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The decision criterion for acceptance or rejection of the various hypotheses was set at 0.05 alpha levels. The study revealed that there were no significant relationships between teachers’ gender, educational status and teaching experience with their perception of behaviour disorder among pupils with intellectual disabilities. However, broken home, uninviting home environment among others, caused behaviour disorders among pupils with intellectual disabilities. Recommendations were made for parents, teachers and government to be very vigilant and always be at alert to identify any behaviour that is against the acceptable norm within their homes, classrooms, schools and appropriate measures should be used to manage it.