Autism (Dissertation Sample)

PERSONAL PLANNING: HOW AVAILABLE IS THIS IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH AUTISM?
A dissertation submitted to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
For the degree of MA/Special Educational Needs
2010/2011
LIST OF CONTENTS
 TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u HYPERLINK \l "_Toc290651634"
ABSTRACT  PAGEREF _Toc290651634 \h
vi
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DECLARATION  PAGEREF _Toc290651635 \h
viii
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION  PAGEREF _Toc290651636 \h
1
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1.0 Background  PAGEREF _Toc290651637 \h
1
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1.1 Aims/Objectives of this study  PAGEREF _Toc290651638 \h
4
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1.2 Achievement of the work  PAGEREF _Toc290651639 \h
5
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1.3 Research question  PAGEREF _Toc290651640 \h
6
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1.4 Research method  PAGEREF _Toc290651641 \h
6
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1.5 Assumptions and limitations  PAGEREF _Toc290651642 \h
6
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1.6 Description of thesis organization  PAGEREF _Toc290651643 \h
7
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1.7 Conclusion  PAGEREF _Toc290651644 \h
8
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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW  PAGEREF _Toc290651645 \h
9
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2.0 Introduction  PAGEREF _Toc290651646 \h
9
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2.1 The Rationale for Intervention  PAGEREF _Toc290651648 \h
9
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2.2 Development of personal planning services for individuals with autism in education system in Saudi Arabia  PAGEREF _Toc290651649 \h
14
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2.3 Overview of availability of personal planning services for students with autism in Saudi Arabia  PAGEREF _Toc290651650 \h
15
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2.4 The impact of teachers’/ administrators’ perceptions  PAGEREF _Toc290651651 \h
23
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2.5 Conclusion  PAGEREF _Toc290651652 \h
27
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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY  PAGEREF _Toc290651653 \h
28
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3.1 Introduction  PAGEREF _Toc290651654 \h
28
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3.3 Research question  PAGEREF _Toc290651655 \h
29
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3.6 Research procedure  PAGEREF _Toc290651656 \h
31
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3.7 Study population  PAGEREF _Toc290651658 \h
32
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3.8 Sampling  PAGEREF _Toc290651659 \h
32
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3.9 Data Collection  PAGEREF _Toc290651660 \h
33
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3.10 Data collection methods  PAGEREF _Toc290651661 \h
34
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3.10.1 Questionnaires  PAGEREF _Toc290651662 \h
34
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3.10.2 Interviews  PAGEREF _Toc290651663 \h
35
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3.10.3 Documentary and electronic sources  PAGEREF _Toc290651664 \h
36
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3.11 Conclusion  PAGEREF _Toc290651665 \h
37
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CHAPTER 4: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION  PAGEREF _Toc290651666 \h
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4.1 Introduction  PAGEREF _Toc290651667 \h
38
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4.2 Discussion of the results  PAGEREF _Toc290651668 \h
38
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Table 1: Questionnaires issued and returned  PAGEREF _Toc290651669 \h
39
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Table 2: Interviews conducted  PAGEREF _Toc290651670 \h
40
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4.3 Demographic Profile of the Study Population  PAGEREF _Toc290651671 \h
40
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Table 3: Subject demographics  PAGEREF _Toc290651672 \h
40
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4.4 Personal planning services available for students with autism  PAGEREF _Toc290651673 \h
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4.4.1 Psychological therapy services  PAGEREF _Toc290651674 \h
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4.4.2 Speech and language therapy services  PAGEREF _Toc290651675 \h
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4.4.3 Physical therapy  PAGEREF _Toc290651676 \h
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4.4.4 Social therapy services  PAGEREF _Toc290651677 \h
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4.4.5 Occupational therapy services  PAGEREF _Toc290651678 \h
50
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4.4.6 Medical and health services  PAGEREF _Toc290651679 \h
51
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4.4.7 Transportation services  PAGEREF _Toc290651680 \h
52
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4.4.8 Counselling services  PAGEREF _Toc290651681 \h
53
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4.4.9 Recreational therapy  PAGEREF _Toc290651682 \h
54
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4.5 Summary of findings  PAGEREF _Toc290651683 \h
55
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4.6 Conclusion  PAGEREF _Toc290651684 \h
58
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CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS  PAGEREF _Toc290651685 \h
60
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5.1 Introduction  PAGEREF _Toc290651686 \h
60
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5.2 Conclusion  PAGEREF _Toc290651687 \h
60
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5.3 Assumptions and limitations  PAGEREF _Toc290651688 \h
62
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5.4 Recommendations  PAGEREF _Toc290651689 \h
63
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5.5 Personal Achievements  PAGEREF _Toc290651690 \h
68
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5.6 Future areas of research  PAGEREF _Toc290651691 \h
68
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REFERENCES  PAGEREF _Toc290651692 \h
70
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  PAGEREF _Toc290651693 \h
83

LIST OF TABLES
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Table 1: Questionnaires issued and returned  PAGEREF _Toc290206840 \h
39
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc290206841"
Table 2: Interviews conducted  PAGEREF _Toc290206841 \h
40
HYPERLINK \l "_Toc290206842"
Table 3: Subject demographics  PAGEREF _Toc290206842 \h
40

ABSTRACT
This focuses on a study aimed at examining the availability of personal planning services for individuals with autism in the education system. To realize this objective, the researcher uses both primary and secondary data gathered from special education institutes for children with disabilities and public schools with students on autism spectrum in Saudi Arabia. As the paper describes, analyses of the data was conducted to identify the availability of personal planning strategies and their effectiveness in those institutions in Saudi Arabia. The results of this study reveal that various intervention services are available in education institutions in Saudi Arabia. These include psychological therapy, medical and health therapy, speech and language therapy, physical therapy, recreational therapy, transportation and counselling services. On the other hand, vital services such as social therapy and occupational therapy are largely unavailable. Before presentation of methodology and analysis of findings, the paper gives an overview of related prior-studies that have a bearing on this study. This study helps to understand how education system has recognized the special needs of individual with autism in Saudi Arabia and the planning that has been incorporated into the system to support them both individually and collectively. The significance of this study stems from the fact that the percentage of individuals with autistic spectrum disorder has risen recently prompting a special focus. As such, the need for effective personal planning for such individuals in order to enable them acquire educational needs has also increased. The results of the study indicate personal planning is adequately available in education system for individuals with autism. However, the study poses a challenge for relevant authorities to enhance some of the vital services that are found to be unavailable in education system in this study. Finally, this study provides insights to contribute to future development of this line of research.
DECLARATION
I (…………..) declare that no portion of the work referred to in the dissertation has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning.
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Background
Autism is a complex developmental disorder that affects the brain’s normal development of social and communication skills. It is a life-long developmental disability which affects the level of comprehension of an individual to the surrounding environment. Specifically, it prevents an individual from understanding what they see, hear or sense. This disability begins at birth or within the first two to three years of life of an individual. Autism can be traced back to the mid 20th century when the first diagnosed case was identified by children psychologists at John Hopkins Hospital (special programmes branch, 2000). But as Autism research institute (2011) explains, cases of children with this disorder were rare during the 20th century. Recently, the number of individuals diagnosed with this disability has been increasing at an alarming rate as Robledo & Ham-Kucharski (2005) explains. In fact, a 2007 research paper indicated that 1 out of 110 of all children born is diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder in the world. The findings of that study also showed that four times as many males are diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders compared to females, (Robledo & Ham-Kucharski 2005). In Saudi Arabia alone, reports presented to keen Abdullah in the year 2007 by five separa...