CHAPTER I

Introduction

Self- help skills is an act or an instance of helping or improving oneself without

assistance from others. The term means a skill taught to preschool children in order for
them to learn to independent in which they can use in their daily living.
The skill is acquired or developed through training or experience. This certain act that
is taught to preschool children for them to acquire and practice for their own benefits.
Intellectual Disability refers to below average intelligence or mental ability or a lack
of skills necessary for day to day living. The terms refers to children that have low mental
capacity and have difficulty coping with the environment.
Pupils with intellectual disability in our school are not yet independent in taking care
of his/her personal needs. The skills to be taught to this type of special children include,
eating, dressing, grooming, hygiene and toileting. These activities should take place in a
natural setting following a natural routine, with the same expectations for this child as for
others family members.
Teaching a child with intellectual disability needs flexibility, patience, repetition and
creativity in a natural setting. He needs to follow a rigid, systematic and consistent
schedule both in home and school. Indicate to him what is going to happen by using hand
over hand technique to let him “see what the child is doing and follow it without being
forced. By breaking down the activity into teachable steps and teaching one step at a time
with the backward and forward chaining coupled with a lot of verbal or physical
promptings builds the client’ self-esteem and self-fulfillment, in the process attain
independence in taking care of his own needs, how to dress, groom, and feed himself
independently which is the ultimate goal for the children with intellectual disability.
This study will focus on children with intellectual disability in which to determine
whether self- help skills toward independency is an effective approach in teaching this
children. Self- help skills will focus on the gross and fine motor development of a child.
Gross motor involve the use of bigger muscles while fine motor is more on the use of
fingers. This is a skill employ to preparatory children ages ( 4-5) years old in the regular
school but in sped age is not an issue, level of disability is taken into consideration.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2007) defined intellectual disability as

significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, existing currently with deficit in
adaptive behavior and manifested during the development period that adversely affect the
child educational performance. Individual with intellectual disability do not look different
from their typical peers. In fact oftentimes they are not identified until they enter the
school setting where their cognitive impairment was not apparent. According to
Rizopoulos and Wolpert (2004) they may also have difficulty in expressive language
,poor short term memory, low meta-cognitive skills and poor use of logic and
organization (Eisenbroun, et.al.2011). They are taught of self- help skills in order for
them to be independent and that they can use in their daily living.

Assessment involves the use of empirical data on student learning to refine programs
and improve student learning.  (Assessing Academic Programs in Higher Education by
Allen 2004). Assessment is the process of gathering and discussing information from
multiple and diverse sources in order to develop a deep understanding of what students
know, understand, and can do with their knowledge as a result of their educational
experiences; the process culminates when assessment results are used to improve
subsequent learning.  (Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses: shifting the
focus from teaching to learning by Huba and Freed 2000). Assessment is the systematic
basis for making inferences about the learning and development of students.  It is the
process of defining, selecting, designing, collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and using
information to increase students’ learning and development.  (Assessing Student
Learning and Development: A Guide to the Principles, Goals, and Methods of
Determining College Outcomes by Erwin 1991). Assessment is the systematic collection,
review, and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of
improving student learning and development.  (Assessment Essentials: planning,
implementing, and improving assessment in higher education by Palomba and Banta
1999).

Therefore, the researchers are motivated to conduct this study in order to determine
the level of self- help skills toward independency to children with intellectual disability.
As a teacher of children with intellectual disability the researchers are interested to
investigate for the improvement of self-help skills among these children.

Statement of the Problem

The study aims to determine the self-help skills toward independency of

preparatory pupils with Intellectual Disability at Silay Sped Center School Year 2015-
2016.

Specifically this study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What is the level of self-help skills of pupils when they are grouped according to
the following areas?
a. Eating
b. Dressing
c. General Toileting
d. Avoiding Dangers
e. Locating Directions
f. Performing Simple Tasks
2. Is there a significant difference between the level of self-help skills when they are
grouped according to the following selected variables?
a. Age
b. Sex
c. Level of disability
d. Socio-economic status
 3. Is there a significant relationship between the self-help skills of children with
intellectual disability?

Hypotheses

Using as basis the aforementioned comparative and relational objectives of this

study,

1 There is no significant difference in the level of self-help skills of preparatory pupils

with intellectual disability at Silay Sped Center when they are grouped according to the
following variables age, sex, level of disability and socio economic status.

2. There is no significant relationship in the level of self-help skills of children with

intellectual disability when they are grouped according to the aforementioned variables.

Theoretical/ Conceptual Framework

This study is anchored on the Learning Theory of Ivan Pavlov, the famous scientist
who discovered and documented the principles governing how animals (humans
included) learn. Two basic kinds of learning or conditioning occur as Classical
conditioning happens when an animal learns to associate a neutral stimulus (signal) with
a stimulus that has intrinsic meaning based on how closely in time the two stimuli are
presented. The classic example of classic conditioning is a dog's ability to associate the
sound of a bell (something that originally has no meaning to the dog) with the
presentation of food (something that has a lot of meaning for the dog) a few moments
later. Dogs are able to learn the association between bell and food, and will salivate
immediately after hearing the bell once this connection has been made. Instrumental
conditioning happens when an animal learns to perform particular behaviors in order to
obtain an intrinsically rewarding stimulus. Instrumental conditioning has occurred when a
trained dolphin leaps out of the water in order to obtain a fish reward, and when a human
employee shows up at work in exchange for a paycheck.

Years of learning research have lead to the creation of a highly precise learning theory
that can be used to understand and predict how and under what circumstances most any
animal will learn, including human beings. Because most behavior is learned according to
the principles of instrumental conditioning, learning theory can be used to help people
figure out how to change their behaviors.

Though there is only one learning theory, there are several flavors of behaviorism,
which is the school of psychology that developed around learning theory. Strict
behaviorism ignores the importance of mental events in shaping behavior. According to
this view, the same principles that are used to train dogs are also useful for training or
educating human beings. As backwards as this sounds, there is much merit in this
position. Strict behaviorist approaches to human education have flourished as a guiding
philosophy for educating autistic and mentally retarded individuals.

Cognitive behaviorism is a newer approach that applies learning theory to mental

events like thoughts and feelings. Cognitive behavioral therapists teach people new ways
of thinking, and in so doing, help them to overcome various problems that stem from
dysfunctional thinking, including depression and anxiety problems (Depression and
anxiety can be seen and successfully treated as just another variety of learned behavior,
according to this approach). We'll talk more about cognitive therapy later on in the
Methods section.
The key insight to take home from learning theory is that most behavior is learned
behavior, for animals as well as human beings. If behavior can be learned, it can also be
unlearned, so long as the right steps are followed (as described by the learning theory),
and the right reinforcements or punishments are applied. If your problem has to do with a
bad habit you'd like to change, learning more about learning theory is a good idea for
you.
 Young children need assistance as they attempt new tasks and seek to master familiar
ones. Teachers aid children in their efforts by scaffolding experiences, using a collection
of strategies named for their resemblance to the temporary construction site structures
(Wood, Bruner, and Ross 1976). By employing scaffolding techniques, educators help
children achieve heights they otherwise could not reach, assisting in the construction of
their understanding and the development of their abilities.

Adult scaffolding techniques have been shown to improve a child’s ability to complete
a task (Morrissey and Brown 2009). The goal is to provide temporary support that will
later be removed as the child acquires, and eventually masters, new skills.

This article will explore the concept of scaffolding, examining several scaffolding
strategies commonly used with young children, and how early childhood professionals
can use these techniques to help children develop problem-solving and self-help skills.

Another theory is Scaffolding a child’s learning experiences. In his theory of child

development, Lev Vygotsky proposed that learners have a zone of proximal
development, a region where they acquire new skills more readily with the assistance of
someone more knowledgeable than themselves (Berk 2001; Vygotsky 1962). Scaffolding
techniques are the means by which the more knowledgeable other, a teacher, guides the
learner within the learner’s own zone to reach a greater understanding and mastery of the
task.

The skills are ones that adults and even peer tutors use constantly—and somewhat
unconsciously—in the natural course of instruction. In certain ways, their
implementation seems to be instinctive: Everyone from grandma to the babysitter uses
scaffolding strategies to some degree when assisting young children.

Yet scaffolding strategies in the early childhood classroom must be intentional and
well executed. To use such techniques effectively, teachers need to be aware of a child’s
changing developmental status, knowing when and how to provide new tasks and
structure, and helping the child learn new skills and abilities while still allowing a degree
of autonomy (Berk and Winsler 1995; Kearn 2000).

Relevant research on scaffolding strategies includes several means that researchers

and educators use to conceptualize the approaches (Anghileri 2006; Bodrova and Leong
2001; Lewis 2010). There are many ways to help children master their world, and the
techniques often depend on the situation, subject matter, and the ability level of the child
in relation to the activity (Kearn 2000). Any one scaffolding strategy can be used to teach
a number of skills pertaining to many different subjects and situations.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study determined the level of self-help skills towards independency of

preparatory children with intellectual disability at Silay SPED Center during school year
2015-2016. Out of five levels of students with intellectual disability only the preparatory
classes were made the participants of the study.

The level of self-help skills to the children with intellectual disability were tested
according to the degree or level of their performance.

Significance of the Study

Any study is conducted for the reason that it will be beneficial to the following:
Administrator. School heads can sponsor training, workshop and other training
programs that will improve self-help skills among children with intellectual disability.
This will give them the idea of the possible programs that will support more the
implementation of self-help skills as part of training for children with intellectual
disability.
Teachers. This will help teacher’s awareness in making programs that will promote
students doing self-help skills. It will inform them on what particular skill are yet to be
improved and to be continued learning.
Parents. This can promote awareness about the effectiveness of self-help skills among
their children and for them to have a follow-up activity at home. They will be
knowledgeable of how important their role in developing skills and guiding their
children.
Pupils. This study will help the children with intellectual disability to develop self-help
skills and eventually they can do by themselves. This will give them the opportunity to be
independent even just by taking care of themselves.
Researchers. This may motivate other researches to include further in their research the
level of self- help skills and its effectiveness among children with intellectual disability.
They will be guided in doing related research to furthermore improve their own research
study.

Definition of Terms

Assessment-conceptually the term refers to the systematic collection, review, and

use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving

learning and development. It refers to the wide variety of methods that educators use to

evaluate, measure, and document the academic readiness, learning progress , and skill

acquisition of students from preschool to college and adulthood. "Assessment is the

systematic collection, review, and use of information about educational programs

undertaken for the purpose of improving learning and development.

The Higher Learning Commission defines assessment of student learning in the

following way: “Assessment of student learning is a participatory, iterative process that:

Provides data/information you need on your students’ learning, Engages you and others

in analyzing and using this data/information to confirm and improve teaching and

learning. Produces evidence that students are learning the outcomes you intended. Guides

you in making educational and institutional improvements. Evaluates whether changes

made improve/impact student learning, and documents the learning and your efforts.

”University of Oregon, Teaching Effectiveness Program “We define assessment as

follows: Assessment is the process of gathering and discussing information from multiple

and diverse sources in order to develop a deep understanding of what students know,

understand, and can do with their knowledge as a result of their educational experiences;

the process culminates when assessment results are used to improve subsequent learning.

Operationally it refers to identifying or evaluating the ability of someone or something.

Self-help-conceptually it refers to an act or an instance of helping or improving oneself

without assistance from others.
Operationally the term means a skill taught to preschool children in order for them to
learn to independent in which they can use in their daily living.
Skill-conceptually refers to proficiency, facility, or dexterity that is acquired or
developed through training or experience.
Operationally the term refers to a certain act that is taught to preschool
children for them to acquire and practice for their own benefits.

Intellectual disability-conceptually the term refers to below average intelligence or

mental ability or a lack of skills necessary for day to day living.
Operationally the term refers to children that have low mental capacity and have
difficulty coping with the environment.
Motivate-conceptually the term refers to provide someone with a motive for doing
something or to inspire or encourage to do something. Operationally the term refers to
giving encouragement to a certain child to perform up to the best of his ability.
Awareness-conceptually the terms refers to knowledge or perception of a situation or
fact and being concerned about, and well informed, interest in a particular situation.
Operationally it means developing a person to take part in something or being
knowledgeable about the level of self-help skills of children with intellectual disability.
Dependent - relying another for support, needing someone or something else for

support, help, etc.

Assessment refers to the wide variety of methods that educators use to evaluate,
measure, and document the academic readiness, learning progress, and skill acquisition of
students from preschool through college and adulthood. uncountable] the process of
making a judgment or forming an opinion, after considering something or someone
carefully The investigation was reopened after careful assessment of new evidence. The
term “assessment” may be defined in multiple ways by different individuals or
institutions, perhaps with different goals.

SELF-HELP SKILLS - enable your child to meet his own needs and involve activities
and behaviors that eventually lead to independence. Skills such as dressing on his own,
learning how to set a table or pouring his own juice express growing maturity. However,
self-help skills also involve emotional and cognitive growth, such as learning to express
anger with words rather than throwing a toy, respecting property of others and someday
learning to read a book without your help.
self-help - the act of helping or improving yourself without relying on anyone else assist,
assistance, help, aid - the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or
furtherance of an effort or purpose; "he gave
me an assist with the housework"; "could not walk without assistance"; "rescue party
went to their aid"; "offered his help in unloading"
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
Intellectual disability is a generalized disorder, characterized by subaverage cognitive
functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before the age of
18. Once focused almost entirely on cognition, the definition now includes both a
component relating to mental functioning and one relating to the individual’s functional
skills in their environment. Children with an intellectual disability may learn to sit up, to
crawl, or to walk later than other children, or they may learn to talk later. Both adults and
children with intellectual disabilities may also exhibit the following characteristics:
Deficits in memory skills
Difficulty learning social rules
Difficulty with problem solving skills
Delays in the development of adaptive behaviors such as self-help or self-care skills
Lack of social inhibitors
The limitations of cognitive functioning will cause a child with an intellectual disability
to learn and develop more slowly than a typical child. Children may take longer to learn
language, develop social skills,
and take care of their personal needs such as dressing or eating. Learning will take them
longer, require more repetition, and skills may need to be adapted to their learning level.
Nevertheless, virtually every child is able to learn, develop and become participating
members of the community.
In early childhood a mild intellectual disability (IQ 60–70) may not be obvious, and may
not be identified until children begin school. Even when poor academic performance is
recognized, it may take expert assessment to distinguish a mild intellectual disability
from a learning disability or emotional/behavioral disorders. As individuals with a mild
intellectual disability reach adulthood, many learn to live independently and maintain
gainful employment.
A moderate intellectual disability (IQ 50–60) is nearly always apparent within the first
years of life. Children with a moderate intellectual disability will require considerable
supports in school, at home, and in the community in order to participate fully. As adults
they may live with their parents, in a supportive group home, or even semi-independently
with significant supportive services to help them, for example, manage their finances. A
person with a more severe intellectual disability will need more intensive support and
supervision his or her entire life. The diagnostic criteria for intellectual disability, set
forth by The American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) which can be found in the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5, APA 2013) is as
follows: Intellectual Disability is a disorder with onset during the developmental period
(before age 18) that includes both intellectual and adaptive functioning deficits in
conceptual, social, and practical domains. The following three criteria must be met.
Until Rosa’s Law was signed into law by President Obama in October 2010, IDEA used
the term “mental retardation” instead of “intellectual disability.” Rosa’s Law changed the
term to be used in future to “intellectual disability.” The definition itself, however, did
not change. Accordingly, “intellectual disability” is defined as… “…significantly sub
average general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive
behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s
educational performance.” [34 CFR §300.8(c)(6)]

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Foreign
In 1958, Ellis presented a paper entitled “Behavioral Engineering in Development of
Self-Help Skills” at the Southeastern American Association on Mental Deficiency
Convention. At this presentation, he described a procedure for teaching toileting,
dressing, and feeding skills to severely retarded persons living in residential institutions
(Ellis, 1974). Shortly thereafter, Bijou and Orlando (1961) published a paper showing
that mentally retarded persons were controlled behaviorally by schedules of
reinforcement. Bijou (1966) later published a treatise on how the physical, biological,
and social environments contribute to the condition known as mental retardation. It was a
rather simple matter to conclude that if mental retardation could be caused, in part, by a
person’s psychological environment, then special psychoeducational techniques could
reverse the condition, to some extent. Ferster (1961) put forth a similar argument about
autistic children. He conducted studies showing that token reinforcement could serve as
an incentive with autistic children, and that these children were responsive to the operant
conditioning method. Thus, the conceptual framework for the development of behavior
modification techniques for teaching independent living skills was laid.
Teaching Self-Help Skills to Autistic and Mentally Retarded Children.Matson, Johnny
L.; And Others Research in Developmental Disabilities, v11 n4 p361-78 1990
Four mentally retarded children (ages 4-11), 3 with autism, were successfully taught
various adaptive behaviors for self-care skills. Training procedures involved the whole-
task method and included modeling, verbal instructions, prompting, and edible and social
reinforcement. (Author/JDD)
Descriptors: Adaptive Behavior (of Disabled), Autism, Behavior Modification,
Elementary Education, Mental Retardation, Modeling (Psychology), Multiple
Disabilities, Preschool Education, Prompting, Reinforcement, Self Care Skills, Skill
Development, Training Methods
Academic Research: Self-directed learning of child-care skills by parents with
intellectual disabilities
Feldman, M.A. (2004). Self-directed learning of child-care skills by parents with
intellectual disabilities. Infants & Young Children, 17, 17-31.
This article describes the development, use, and evaluation of self-directed learning (via
self-instructional audiovisual child-care materials) to teach basic child-care, health, and
safety skills to parents with intellectual disabilities. Materials developed were based on
input from pediatric health care professionals and research on how to present visual
materials to persons with low literacy skills. Overall, the results of these studies indicate
that many parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities may improve their
 parenting skills with low cost, low tech, self-directed learning materials.
Research Article: Developing skills in everyday activities and self-determination in
adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Sheppard, L., & Unsworth, C. (2010). Developing skills in everyday activities and self-
determination in adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Remedial
and Special Education,32(5), 393-405. doi: 10.1177/0741932510362223
ABSTRACT:
Autonomous functioning, an essential characteristic of self-determined people, has been
categorized behaviorally according to everyday activities in Self & Family Care (SFC),
Life Management (LM), Recreation/Leisure (RL), and Social/Vocational (SV) skills. The
effectiveness of a short-term (8–10 weeks) educational residential program to improve
skills in these categories of everyday activities in adolescents with intellectual and
developmental disabilities was examined, and the effect on participant self-determination
was also measured. Results from this single-group, quasi-experimental research with
three data collection points (n = 31 from five cohorts over an 18-month period) found
that participants’ skills in SFC/LM and RL had improved significantly with large effect
sizes at post program and 3-month follow-up. Skills needed for SV activities did not
show the same level of improvement, but participant-rated self-determination scores (as
measured by the AIR Self-Determination Scales) improved significantly with small
effect size at post program and moderate effect size at follow-up.
Synthesis
”University of Oregon, Teaching Effectiveness Program “We define assessment as
follows: Assessment is the process of gathering and discussing information from multiple
and diverse sources in order to develop a deep understanding of what students know,
understand, and can do with their knowledge as a result of their educational experiences;
the process culminates when assessment results are used to improve subsequent
Self-help skills enable your child to meet his own needs and involve activities and
behaviors that eventually lead to independence. Skills such as dressing on his own,
learning how to set a table or pouring his own juice express growing maturity. However,
self-help skills also involve emotional and cognitive growth, such as learning to express
anger with words rather than throwing a toy, respecting property of others and someday
learning to read a book without your help.
IDEA used the term “mental retardation” instead of “intellectual disability.” Rosa’s Law
changed the term to be used in future to “intellectual disability.” The definition itself,
however, did not change. Accordingly, “intellectual disability” is defined as… “…
significantly sub average general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with
deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that
adversely affects a child’s educational performance.” [34 CFR §300.8(c)(6)]

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH DESIGN

This study use the descriptive design using a questionnaire

method to determine the level of self-help skills training to the

preparatory children with intellectual disability. To find out whether

there was a significant difference on the participants without and with

self-help skills training.

Respondents

The respondents of the study are all beginners class of Silay SPED

Center for the school year 2014-2015. There are 11pupils in the

beginners class. The beginners pupils were chosen as the participants of

the study. The age range is from 5-15 years old.

Research Instrument

To meet the objectives, the researchers made use of an adapted

questionnaire from Children with School Problems (2012), Canadian

Pediatric Society. The questionnaire is composed of two parts. First part

is about the demographic data of the child, the name of the child, age,

23

parent/guardian, address, cellphone number, level of disability, socio-

economic status. Second is about the self-help skills, there are six areas

included, these are eating, dressing, general toileting, avoiding dangers,

locating directions and performing simple task. The level of child’s

performance is measured through the following rating scale: poor/needs

improvement, satisfactory and very satisfactory. Using this questionnaire

the level of self-help skills of children with Intellectual Disability at Silay

Sped Center will be measured.

Data Gathering Procedures

The researchers followed various procedures in gathering the

necessary data for the study. The researchers sought first permission

from the School Sped Coordinator and the Teacher-in-Charge of Silay

Sped Center.

After the approval, the researchers assessed the pupils based on the
content of the questionnaire. The researchers individually interviewed
each respondent. The adapted questionnaire is about the level of the
child’s performance in self-help skills. After the interview, the
researchers gathered all the information for documentation and analysis
of data.
Statistical Treatment of Data

Appropriate statistical tools were employed in accordance with the

objective that was formulated.

The weighted mean were used to determine the demographic

profile of the respondents according to age, sex, level of disability, socio-

economic status. The responses were carefully tallied according to the

items and the selected variables called for. The arithmetic or weighted

mean was used to determine the level of self-help skills of children with

intellectual disability.

Interpretation by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)

was based on the following mean score ranges under corresponding

verbal interpretation of the level of self- help skills.

Mean Score Range Verbal Interpretation

2.1- 3.0 Very Satisfactory

1.1- 2.0 Satisfactory

0- 1.0 Poor/ Needs Improvement

Weights assigned to each items raised in the questionnaire were as

follows:

Responses Weights

Very Satisfactory (more than half of respondents 3

are knowledgeable of self-help skills)

Satisfactory(less than half of respondents are 2

 knowledgeable of self-help skills)

Poor/Needs Improvement(less than half of the 1

respondents are not knowledgeable)

To answer problem number 2, t- test will be used because

our respondents are 11 pupils.

To answer problem number 3, Pearson Product Moment of

Correlation or Pearson r will be used.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE DEPENDENT VARIABLE

 SELF-HELP SKILLS

VERY SATISFACTORY
EATING

SATISFACTORY
DRESSING

POOR/NEEDS
GENERAL TOILETING

IMPROVEMENT
LOCATING DIRECTIONS

PERFORMING SIMPLE

TASKS

Figure 1

Schematic Diagram of Hypothesized Relationship of Variables

 Part 1

Personal Information

Name of child: ___________________________________

Age: ________ Sex: ______________

Birthdate: _______________________

Address: __________________________________________

Name of parent or guardian: _______________________

Level Of disability: ________________________________

Contact number: ___________________________________