Effectiveness of information videos regarding autism among primary school teachers at selected rural schools of Bangalore

Abstract

Autism is a developmental disorder which is characterized by a qualitative alteration of social interaction, communication and repetitive behaviors, interest and activity. Early identification of autism will improve the health and well-being of the children and prevents the possible disabilities which might occur in future. The objective of the study is to assess the existing level of knowledge regarding autism among primary school teachers; to determine the effectiveness of information videos to enhance knowledge of primary school teachers regarding autism and to find association between knowledge of primary school teachers with selected socio demographic variables. One group pretest –posttest design was selected for the study. Structured knowledge questionnaire was used to collect data from 60 primary school teachers in rural school of Bangalore. Samples were selected using non probability convenient sampling technique. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and interpreted in terms of objectives and hypotheses of the study. The level of significance was set at 0.05 level.: In the pre-test, about 63.3% of the samples had inadequate knowledge where as in the post test of the samples (66.7%) had gained adequate knowledge. These findings indicate that the video assisted teaching programme was effective in enhancing the knowledge of the primary school teachers regarding autism. A significant association was found between age (χ2 = 4.32), marital status (χ2=3.95) and place of residence (χ2=5.48) and the mean pre-test knowledge scores at 0.05 level of significance.