LANGUAGE SKILLS, ECHOIC RESPONSES AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER IN SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between language skills, echoic responses and academic achievement among children with autism spectrum disorder in special needs schools. The study adopted a correlational survey design. Two research questions and two corresponding hypotheses were raised and formulated to guide the study. The population for this study consists of all 80 male and female pupils diagnosed with ASD in seven special needs schools in Rivers State. The research instrument used in this study is a modified four-point Likert type scale questionnaire titled “Language Skills, Echoic Reponses and Academic Achievement Questionnaire” (LSERAAQ). Cronbach Alpha statistics was used to estimate the reliability of the instrument and the reliability coefficients of 0.81 for language skills, 0.78 for echoic responses and 0.92 for academic achievement were obtained. Data was collected and analysed using simple regression, mean and standard deviation and independent t-test at 0.05 alpha level of significance.  From the data analyzed, it was found that language skills significantly relates to academic achievement while echoic responses, have no significant relationship with academic achievement among children with ASD in special needs schools. Based on these findings the following recommendations were made: Teachers, caregivers, and parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) should encourage language skills by cutting down on the potential for echoic repetition through the use of visual cues in asking choice questions instead of open-ended questions such as the “Wh” questions as this will help them learn how to answer questions without much repetition.