This study focuses on the mentally disabled pupil who receives his education in a special school. The mentally disabled pupil makes unique demands on the school. To facilitate this type of education a particular curriculum and suitable physical facilities have to be provided. For the physical facilities to be up to educational standards, the use of such facilities will have to be in accordance with the aims of the special school. The educational use of said physical facilities at a special school can be instrumental in the eradication of the handicap a pupil at the special school experiences. It is the responsibility of the headmaster of such a school to see to it that the physical facilities are used in such a way so that the aims of the school are realize. To ensure that the facilities are used optimally, the headmaster must set a criteria which is unique to the special school. The physical facilities of a special school for mentally disabled pupils, being a part of reality, functions by means of the structural moments of reality. The criteria regarding the use of the physical facilities at a special school is formulated in terms of the modalities of reality in which the school functions. / Skripsie (MEd)--PU vir CHO, 1988

This study focuses on the mentally disabled pupil who receives his education in a special school. The mentally disabled pupil makes unique demands on the school. To facilitate this type of education a particular curriculum and suitable physical facilities have to be provided. For the physical facilities to be up to educational standards, the use of such facilities will have to be in accordance with the aims of the special school. The educational use of said physical facilities at a special school can be instrumental in the eradication of the handicap a pupil at the special school experiences. It is the responsibility of the headmaster of such a school to see to it that the physical facilities are used in such a way so that the aims of the school are realize. To ensure that the facilities are used optimally, the headmaster must set a criteria which is unique to the special school. The physical facilities of a special school for mentally disabled pupils, being a part of reality, functions by means of the structural moments of reality. The criteria regarding the use of the physical facilities at a special school is formulated in terms of the modalities of reality in which the school functions. / Skripsie (MEd)--PU vir CHO, 1988

The mentally retarded child as a member of society should enjoy equality of rights of existence just like any other individual created by God. This study endeavours to research the training needed for white mentally retarded children in the RSA and to what extent these needs are catered for. In a literature study an overview is given of relevant concepts and terminology concerning mental retardation. Concepts with reference to the Act for the training of mentally retarded children are used. Possible criteria for identifying mentally retarded children are proposed. These criteria should be present in a higher or lesser degree to confirm mental retardation. The utilization of these criteria are further discussed as aids in the formal classification of retardedness. The basic personal and social needs of the mentally retarded child are perused as well as the need for industrial orientation. Attention is then also given to the extent to which these needs are addressed in the RSA and the facilities for "education" and training of these children. The present criteria for admission and placement of these children in training centres is also discussed. An exemplary study of the E.S. le Grange centre for retarded children was done to illustrate the concepts mentioned. The history and development of the centre is described. An evaluation was made as to the extent the needs of the mentally retarded children at the centre are fulfilled in accordance with the background of Act no. 63 of 1974. It was found that this centre fully subscribed to the said act. Individual problem areas were however identified and suggestions put forward for their rectification. / Skripsie (MEd)--PU vir CHO, 1988

Accountable education for mentally handicapped pupils who receive their tuition at special schools should lead to self-actualisation. The pupil achieves self-actualisation through, among other factors, the choice of a sui table career, as this helps him to become a useful, self-supporting and competent member of society. However, the training which a pupil attending a special school receives, does not provide him with direct access to training as an apprentice. Pupils often expect that the practical fields in which they specialised at school will lead to their obtaining employment in these fields and even to their being given further training in their chosen fields. Unfortunately, it is a fact that most of these pupils, on leaving school, are appointed in professions that have little or no bearing on their training at school. In this study an attempt to found a pedagogically viable vocational training programme for educable mentally retarded pupils, based on literature studies, is made. The education of these pupils is studied through the perspectives of their restrictions, their potential, their expectations, their needs and their right to vocational training. The interest which parents have in the education of their mentally retarded child, the special school's responsibility in supplying suitable vocational training, as well as the role that employers should play in this regard, are identified and studied. The programme of educational training at special schools in the Transvaal is analysed in the light of literature studies. The identification of mentally handicapped pupils, the curricula for special schools and the syllabuses for the majority of the subjects are discussed and problem areas are identified. An empirical investigation confirms the actuality of the identified problems. Questionnaires sent to all special schools in the Transvaal and schedules completed by a number of employers were designed. The findings are presented and interpreted. Recommendations aimed at a more vocationally oriented education system for pupils at special schools are made. Possible areas for further research are identified. / Skripsie (MEd)--PU vir CHO, 1988

This study deals with retardation and a method that is concerned with the improvement of subjacent processes of observation. Retardation is seen as a form of perceptual deprivation. Remedial programmes with retarded people thus must correct perceptual deprivation. Audiopsychophonological auditor training (APF) is such a method. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of APF with a group of profoundly retarded children at the Witrand Care and Rehabilitation Centre. A secondary objective was to inquire into intervention as a contaminous factor. Three groups of experimental subjects were used in the research Ten subjects were allocated to each group. The groups respectively received - i) auditory training plus a sensory motor stimulation programme; ii) only music stimulation plus a sensory motor stimulation programme; and iii) no aimed stimulation. Ten experimental subjects listened to filtered Mozart music through head phones, whilst a second group of ten subjects listened to the same music, but unfiltered also through head phones. Both these groups received a sensory motor stimulation programme to keep intervention uniform between the two groups. No aimed stimulation whatsoever were directed at the third group. An increase in mental age (MA) was seen as the first criterium to ~valuate the influence of auditory training. The deferment in responses from self obsessed to object concerned behaviour was applied as a second criterium. Results indicated that the effect of intervention was minimal. It was also found that e significant greater increase of MA was detected in the group that received auditory training then in the group that had to listen to unfiltered music. No in; crease in mental age was detected with the group that received no stimulation at all. The group that received auditory training showed a deferment from self obsessed behaviour to object concerned behaviour. This change is associated with auditory training, of which the aim is to lead a person to active participation in the process of perception. / Thesis (MA)--PU vir CHO, 1982

An investigation was conducted into possible differences in motor abilities between 98 mentally retarded and 100 mentally normal girls aged between 13 - 17 years. For the purpose of this study certain motor aspects as contained in previously selected tests were chosen. The motor aspects in question were those which appear in the Physical Education Syllabus for girls in the section handling of objects. The success with which the girls performed the prescribed movement tasks was measured quantitatively (to indicate attainment of the desired result) as well as qualitatively (to indicate the movement pattern) . A movement-directed analysis was conducted by studying the possible effect which the kind of skill, as well as the relative perceptual-motor abilities, could have on the achievement of the pupils. A preceding literature study was done in order to obtain relevant information pertaining to the study. The quantitative data were studied by means of a variance analysis investigation with a view to the significance of the differences (p ~ 0,05), while the qualitative data, being nominal, were analysed by means of chi-square techniques. The predominant findings indicate that, in spite of heterogeneity within the group, deficient motor ability is indeed prevalent among the mentally retarded pupils. This does not, however, hold good for all aspects of the movement abilities and is not always meaningful. The biggest differences are found in the movement pattern. Task complexity, the degree of cognitive involvement as well as perceptual-motor abilities included in the skills do play a role as regards the successful performance by the mentally retarded group. Carefully planned motor programmes conducted with retarded pupils could therefore be a means of abolishing under-actualization of their personality realisation - especially as they are directed towards motor rather than cognitive orientated occupations. / Thesis (MA)--PU vir CHO, 1987

The mentally retarded child as a member of society should enjoy equality of rights of existence just like any other individual created by God. This study endeavours to research the training needed for white mentally retarded children in the RSA and to what extent these needs are catered for. In a literature study an overview is given of relevant concepts and terminology concerning mental retardation. Concepts with reference to the Act for the training of mentally retarded children are used. Possible criteria for identifying mentally retarded children are proposed. These criteria should be present in a higher or lesser degree to confirm mental retardation. The utilization of these criteria are further discussed as aids in the formal classification of retardedness. The basic personal and social needs of the mentally retarded child are perused as well as the need for industrial orientation. Attention is then also given to the extent to which these needs are addressed in the RSA and the facilities for "education" and training of these children. The present criteria for admission and placement of these children in training centres is also discussed. An exemplary study of the E.S. le Grange centre for retarded children was done to illustrate the concepts mentioned. The history and development of the centre is described. An evaluation was made as to the extent the needs of the mentally retarded children at the centre are fulfilled in accordance with the background of Act no. 63 of 1974. It was found that this centre fully subscribed to the said act. Individual problem areas were however identified and suggestions put forward for their rectification. / Skripsie (MEd)--PU vir CHO, 1988

Accountable education for mentally handicapped pupils who receive their tuition at special schools should lead to self-actualisation. The pupil achieves self-actualisation through, among other factors, the choice of a sui table career, as this helps him to become a useful, self-supporting and competent member of society. However, the training which a pupil attending a special school receives, does not provide him with direct access to training as an apprentice. Pupils often expect that the practical fields in which they specialised at school will lead to their obtaining employment in these fields and even to their being given further training in their chosen fields. Unfortunately, it is a fact that most of these pupils, on leaving school, are appointed in professions that have little or no bearing on their training at school. In this study an attempt to found a pedagogically viable vocational training programme for educable mentally retarded pupils, based on literature studies, is made. The education of these pupils is studied through the perspectives of their restrictions, their potential, their expectations, their needs and their right to vocational training. The interest which parents have in the education of their mentally retarded child, the special school's responsibility in supplying suitable vocational training, as well as the role that employers should play in this regard, are identified and studied. The programme of educational training at special schools in the Transvaal is analysed in the light of literature studies. The identification of mentally handicapped pupils, the curricula for special schools and the syllabuses for the majority of the subjects are discussed and problem areas are identified. An empirical investigation confirms the actuality of the identified problems. Questionnaires sent to all special schools in the Transvaal and schedules completed by a number of employers were designed. The findings are presented and interpreted. Recommendations aimed at a more vocationally oriented education system for pupils at special schools are made. Possible areas for further research are identified. / Skripsie (MEd)--PU vir CHO, 1988

This study deals with retardation and a method that is concerned with the improvement of subjacent processes of observation. Retardation is seen as a form of perceptual deprivation. Remedial programmes with retarded people thus must correct perceptual deprivation. Audiopsychophonological auditor training (APF) is such a method. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of APF with a group of profoundly retarded children at the Witrand Care and Rehabilitation Centre. A secondary objective was to inquire into intervention as a contaminous factor. Three groups of experimental subjects were used in the research Ten subjects were allocated to each group. The groups respectively received - i) auditory training plus a sensory motor stimulation programme; ii) only music stimulation plus a sensory motor stimulation programme; and iii) no aimed stimulation. Ten experimental subjects listened to filtered Mozart music through head phones, whilst a second group of ten subjects listened to the same music, but unfiltered also through head phones. Both these groups received a sensory motor stimulation programme to keep intervention uniform between the two groups. No aimed stimulation whatsoever were directed at the third group. An increase in mental age (MA) was seen as the first criterium to ~valuate the influence of auditory training. The deferment in responses from self obsessed to object concerned behaviour was applied as a second criterium. Results indicated that the effect of intervention was minimal. It was also found that e significant greater increase of MA was detected in the group that received auditory training then in the group that had to listen to unfiltered music. No in; crease in mental age was detected with the group that received no stimulation at all. The group that received auditory training showed a deferment from self obsessed behaviour to object concerned behaviour. This change is associated with auditory training, of which the aim is to lead a person to active participation in the process of perception. / Thesis (MA)--PU vir CHO, 1982

An investigation was conducted into possible differences in motor abilities between 98 mentally retarded and 100 mentally normal girls aged between 13 - 17 years. For the purpose of this study certain motor aspects as contained in previously selected tests were chosen. The motor aspects in question were those which appear in the Physical Education Syllabus for girls in the section handling of objects. The success with which the girls performed the prescribed movement tasks was measured quantitatively (to indicate attainment of the desired result) as well as qualitatively (to indicate the movement pattern) . A movement-directed analysis was conducted by studying the possible effect which the kind of skill, as well as the relative perceptual-motor abilities, could have on the achievement of the pupils. A preceding literature study was done in order to obtain relevant information pertaining to the study. The quantitative data were studied by means of a variance analysis investigation with a view to the significance of the differences (p ~ 0,05), while the qualitative data, being nominal, were analysed by means of chi-square techniques. The predominant findings indicate that, in spite of heterogeneity within the group, deficient motor ability is indeed prevalent among the mentally retarded pupils. This does not, however, hold good for all aspects of the movement abilities and is not always meaningful. The biggest differences are found in the movement pattern. Task complexity, the degree of cognitive involvement as well as perceptual-motor abilities included in the skills do play a role as regards the successful performance by the mentally retarded group. Carefully planned motor programmes conducted with retarded pupils could therefore be a means of abolishing under-actualization of their personality realisation - especially as they are directed towards motor rather than cognitive orientated occupations. / Thesis (MA)--PU vir CHO, 1987