| dc.description.abstract | INTRODUCTION - The inability to read well is an indication of discord in a child's life.
This discord may result from a variety of problems such as physiological, physical, educational, environmental and others. It may be due to interaction between some or all of these factors. All reading retarded children develop a certain imbalance in their lives. From a study of the literature it appears clear that, in spite of remedial education in reading skills, weak readers
remain weak readers. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY - In establishing the purpose of this study one took the point of view that education is a positive conscious process deliberately undertaken to bring about a change in a reading retarded pupil. THE AIM OF THE STUDY IS AS FOLLOWS - 1) According to the literature personality may be viewed
as an individual's most remarkable form of adjustment. The development of personality is an individual process in which the social environment influences people in different ways. As a child's social environment expands during his various stages of development so a continuous interaction
takes place between the developing child and his expanding environment such that certain motivational forces are strengthened while others are weakened. New standards are set and the child is confronted with new problems and challenges. If the child has been suitably prepared to tackle and master
the problems then his self-concept becomes clearer and stronger, but where the demands are too great for the child to cope with them one may encounter the development of psychological and psychosomatic problems which may in turn lead to serious reading problems. The aim of this study is to establish the relationship
between personality and reading retardation by means of evaluation and interview. 2. It appears from the literature that parents exercise great influence on the developing personality of the retarded children. It seems apparent that a good upbringing is a prerequisite of good reading skills. All children, reading retarded included, strive for the following basic needs: a) the preservation of physical health; b) the need for personal recognition and to be seen as a person of value and importance; c) the need for security, love, affection, comfort and safety. The reading retarded pupil has a strong drive for the fulfilment of these needs. Should there be any disturbing factors in the family the pupil may develop certain problems which in turn may influence his emotional status. This may lead
to reading problems or aggravate existing reading problems. This study has as its basis the hypothesis that the quality of the parent child relationship is the chief cause of reading retardation in pupils. This study will attempt to show empirically the connection between parent child relationships and
reading retardation, as well as establishing a
healthy parent child relationship through counselling of parents of reading retarded children, without these children themselves receiving counselling. According to the literature the majority of pupils with reading problems experience serious emotional
problems which may be viewed as the primary cause or secondary result of reading retardation. Emotional problems may be seen as the causal factor in auditory discrimination, intelligence problems such as subtest scatter, poor hand eye coordination,
hyperactivity, laterality and directional-
problems, figure ground perceptual problems, personality problems and a poor self-concept which may affect the reading skills in various ways. The purpose of the study is to reduce emotional problems in reading retarded pupils using only individual counselling of their parents. 4. The self-concept of a pupil includes three aspects
i.e.: self-image ; the ideal self and self (…….part missing……) the commencement of the study. The second took place a year
after the first evaluation and during this period remedial teaching was given to groups B and C while the parents of groups A and B received counselling. The third evaluation took place nine months after the second evaluation and during this period none of the groups had received any remedial help. With the exception of the intelligence tests applied at the
commencement of the study, the following tests and questionnaires were applied to all of the pupils: i) the New South African Individual Scale; ii) the "Burt rearranged word recognition test"; iii) the "Children 1 s personality questionnaire"; iv) “The Hutt adaptation of the Bender-Gestalt test";
v) the "Draw a family" projective technique;
vi) the "Bristol social adjustment guides. The child in the school"; vii) the "Bristol social adjustment guides. The child in the family".
The following educational diagnoses were made after evaluation of the results of each of the evaluations and were then compared
with one another: i) intelligence analysis;
ii) reading age; iii) reading expectancy age;
iv) reading expectancy quotient; v) chronological age; vi) reading quotient;
vii) analysis of the tests and questionnaires;
viii) analysts of the scholastic progress.
ORTHOPEDAGOGIC AND ORTHODIDACTIC ASSISTANCE - The three groups received the following assistance: Group A: The parents of group A were given individual counselling for
a period of one year using the eclectic approach while the pupils were given no assistance at all. Group B: The parents of group B were given individual counselling for
one year while at the same time the pupils were afforded individual remedial reading assistance. Group C: The parents of this group were given no guidance but the pupils did receive remedial assistance in reading for a period of one year. Results: The reading ability of the children in group' A (counselling
group) showed greater improvement than that of the children in group C. This group (group C) having received only remedial
assistance. The long-term reading improvement was also better in group A than it was in group C. These results may be accepted as being statistically 99% reliable.
According to these results individual counselling to parents of reading retarded children is a better remedial approach than remedial teaching given to the pupils themselves. Individual counselling to parents coupled with remedial teaching to pupils is a better method than remedial teaching being used on its own. It thus appears that too much reliance is placed on remedial teaching as a method of overcoming reading retardation, According to this study it appears that a large number of reading
retardation cases are due to emotional problems originating in the home environment. A further assumption may be that many of the processes involved in reading skills are consciously or unconsciously blocked as a result of these emotional problems. In reality the pupil "refuses" to read presumably because he wishes to draw his parents' attention to himself. He thus uses the wrong tactics to attract this attention causing still more
emotional disturbance and himself experiencing further emotional problems.
The pupils in the counselling group changed from a schizothymic personality to a cyclothymic personality while the pupils receiving remedial teaching remain schizothymic personalities. The children of the counselling group developed a better abstracting ability than those who only received remedial teaching. The counselling groups (groups A and B) became more adult
emotionally than those in the remedial group (group C). This can presumably be ascribed to the changed attitude of the father. As a result of counselling the parents were able to bring about a change in the child's attitude from one of irritability towards reading to one of receptiveness. The remedial group remained irritable. The children in the remedial group showed a marked correlation with femininity while the counselling group did not, The children• in the two counselling groups showed a low level of tension and were more relaxed, restful, unfrustrated and calm than they were before the commencement of the study. The remedial group continued showing a tendency towards a high level of tension. As a result of the counselling given the parents, the children in the counselling groups were able to overcome their perceptual problems, These perceptual problems, it is presumed, were largely of an emotional nature. Generally speaking the children in these groups were also able to eliminate psychological blocking. Children in the remedial group continued to experience perceptual problems. The children in the counselling groups showed a greater reduction of aggression, uncertainty and helplessness than those in the remedial group. The children in the counselling groups no longer withdrew from situations. They made use of initiative and found it easy to respond to a stimulus. Depressiveness was largely eliminated, The hostile feelings of the children in the counselling groups towards their parents were greatly reduced while
children in the remedial group continued to show strong signs of hostility towards their parents, It also appeared that the mothers of the children in the counselling groups found their children more acceptable than the mothers of the remedial group children.
Psychosomatic problems such as enuresis, headache, chronic pain poor co-ordination and poor speech were much more reduced in children in the counselling groups than in those in the remedial group. There was more general improvement in academic achievement in children in the counselling groups while children in the remedial group showed far less improvement academically.
Thus the inarguable conclusion may be drawn that individual counselling to parents is a successful method of remedying reading retardation in children. | en_US |
