ABSTRACT
Sport Centres has in many ways improved
the lives of people in all walks of life not minding their abilities and
limitations; that is, physical or mental disabilities. The Sport Centres used
for disabled individuals is described as assistive Sport Centre.
The objective of the study was to
examine and determine the availability and utilization of assistive Sport
Centres for special education in Nigerian Sport Commission Metropolis as well
as determine the influence of teacher’s gender, qualification and experience on
the utilization of assistive technology. Thus, the study provided answers to
some six research questions listed below:
1.
What are the assistive technologies (AT) available for special education within
Nigerian Sport Commission metropolis?
2. Are
available assistive technologies (AT) utilized for teaching special education
students?
3. What
is the frequency of use of assistive Sport Centres (AT) for special education
students?
4. What
is the influence of the Disability’s gender on the utilization of assistive
technology?
5. What
is the influence of the Disability’s educational qualification on the
utilization of assistive technology?
6. What
is the influence of the Disability’s teaching experience on the utilization of
assistive technology?
It also analysed three hypotheses
developed by the researcher for the purpose of the study. The researcher
administered a researcher-designed instrument to seventy-three (73) special
education teachers, forty-two (42) of which were females and thirty-one (31)
were males; twenty-four (24) had National Certificate of Education, thirty-four
(34) had bachelor’s degree in any of education, arts or sciences and twelve
(12) had masters in sciences or education or postgraduate diploma in education;
twenty-seven (27) had experience between 1-5years, twenty-eight (28) had
experience between 6-10years and eighteen (18) had attained above 10years of
teaching experience.
It was revealed that a very limited
number of assistive Sport Centres devices were available for special education
due to reasons ranging from high-cost of the assistive Sport Centres gadgets
and scarcity due to difficulty in importation of gadgets from other countries.
It was also noted that of the available assistive Sport Centres devices in Nigerian
Sport Commission Metropolis, only a few were being highly utilized and
frequently used. It was gathered that the male teachers showed more interest in
the utilization of assistive devices for special education than their female
counterparts. It was also gathered that the teacher’s educational qualification
and teaching experience do not influence the utilization of assistive Sport
Centres for special education. This study disclosed that teachers with less
years of experience are most inclined to use Sport Centres for special
education purposes than those with more experience though, the older the
experience, the more the exposure to the need for these technologies in a
special education classroom.
It was concluded from the analysis done on the
hypotheses that there is no significant difference in the utilization of
assistive Sport Centres for special education based on the teacher’s gender,
educational qualification and teaching experience. The study made
recommendations which includes that the government at all levels with the
Ministry of Education and other concerned bodies should involve special
education teachers and students with disabilities and their families in related
assistive Sport Centres activities, including the development of policies, the
design and evaluation of services and products.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0. Introduction
In any part of the world, there has
been a stigma associated with anyone using wheelchair or being accompanied by a
cane. These people, who are much known in the society as “people with
disability”, are frequently categorized as futile and incapable. Because of
this judgmental approach of other people, people with disability tend to
develop a negative outlook and lose their sense of worth. In response to this
unfortunate circumstances experienced by the people with disability,
participation in sport has already been proven to be one of the key ways in
which they can demonstrate their place in the world. Being able to take part in
sports can change what the society think and feel about them and also change
what they think and feel about themselves.
1.1. Background
and Nature of the Project
Adaptive sports refer to sports that
are modified or adapted to meet the unique needs of individuals with
disabilities. It includes sport designed to enable those with and without
disabilities to participate. (Luo, 2010)
Considering that this
project is intended for adaptive sports, the equalization of opportunities is
really prioritized. The full potential of these people can only be attained if
they are given the chance to prove their capabilities and not be restrained by
their limitations. This kind of sports was made to encourage and promote
the participation of persons with disabilities in a mainstreamed program of
sporting activities for them to develop greater independence. Playing and
competing with other people would help them feel that they are not different
and that they belong to a community. Thus, adaptive sport is an ideal tool for
reducing the stigma associated with disability.
The term disability summarizes a great number of different functional
limitations. People may be disabled by physical, intellectual or sensory
impairment. Different expressions are used when referring to persons with
disabilities. The term ''handicap'' means the loss or limitation of opportunities
to take part in the life of the community on an equal level with others. The term "disabled persons"
might be misinterpreted to imply that the ability of the individual to function
as a person has been disabled. The term
"differently-abled persons" indicates that disability is not
perceived as a deviation from the norm. (Human Rights Education Associates [HREA], 2012) In this project, the users would be
considered as differently-abled persons because the researcher aims to remove
the stereotypical idea that these people are disabled and incapable.
About 16 per
thousand of the country’s population had disability. (National Statistics Office [NSO],
2013) Although the population of people with disability is not that large,
negligence is still inappropriate. These people must receive the right amount
of attention that they deserve. It must be ensured that differently-abled
people have the opportunity to have access to various facilities such as
sporting, recreational and tourism venues. The notion that access of
differently-abled people is just limited to few types of venues due to their
impairments must be changed because nowadays these people can do almost all the
activities that normal people can.
The Nigeria already formed a national sports association for athletes
with impairments which is called the Nigeria
Sports Association for the Differently Abled—National Paralympic Committee of
the Nigeria (NSPADA-NPC Nigeria). This means that
the idea of sports for differently-abled people is not a new concept for the
country yet the country still lacks sports venue with facilities adapted to the
users’ needs. A major challenge facing the disability population is
the inadequacy of available services and facilities. There are numerous
sports centers in the country but there are very few that are accessible to
differently-abled people and none was really created for the purpose of
accommodating adaptive sports. In order to make adaptive sports be further
recognized by people around the country, there must be a particular facility
that will focus on this kind of sports.
According to the 2013 Nspada National Games, the sports that are usually included in the
competition are
Athletics, swimming, wheelchair basketball, badminton, chess,
goal ball, tenpin bowling, table tennis, powerlifting, volleyball, cycling and
wheelchair tennis. (Nigeria Sports
Commission [PSC], 2013) These
sports are actually just ordinary sports but because the players of these would
be differently-abled people, the facilities to house these activities must be
suitable with the users’ needs with adequate concern to safety and
accessibility.