Date Presented 04/13/21
To support preschool students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), the educators working closely with them must be equipped with appropriate strategies. As OTs, it is our responsibility to ensure that any deficits in play are managed to increase engagement in daily activities. Through engagement in virtual workshops detailing two prompting strategies, participants' knowledge and self-efficacy regarding these techniques to support play in the classroom was increased.
Primary Author and Speaker: Katherine Gammer
Contributing Authors: Mor Nahum, Chen Makranz, Afik Hoba, Tamar Peretz, Nechama Silbermen, and Shai Netanel Nagary
PURPOSE: This study investigated the short-term effects of virtual workshops with preschool educators on improving their knowledge and self-efficacy of systematic prompting strategies for play. This topic is important to address as preschool students with IDD often display deficits within their play skills compared to their typically developing peers (Barton et al., 2019). Play is a preschooler's main occupation; it is how they learn about themselves and others and how they participate and engage with their environment (AOTA, 2011). As occupational therapists, it is our job to facilitate participation and engagement in occupation. By educating teachers and aides on how to encourage and enable play for preschoolers with IDD, this project supported the development of knowledge and skills that can work toward decreasing deficits in play skills for preschoolers.
DESIGN: The study was a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design. The participants were recruited through convenience sampling from a Northeastern school system. Teachers and aides in three special education programs were encouraged to participate to learn new skills for their classroom, receive a certificate of completion, and be entered into a raffle.
METHOD: Participants were required to complete an intake survey once they agreed to participate and returned the signed consent form. The workshop series consisted of four one-hour workshops that occurred virtually using Zoom. Sessions included best practices in education including role play and practice quiz questions (Griswold et al., 2017; Long et al., 2018). The pre- and post-test measures consisted of a ten-question knowledge check and an eight-item self-efficacy survey. These measures were completed during the first and last sessions of the 4-session workshop. At the end of the workshop participants also completed a satisfaction survey. Descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon-signed rank test were used for data analysis.
RESULTS: After completion of the workshop majority of participants demonstrated a change in knowledge and self-efficacy. The average pre-test knowledge score was 33% (SD = 15.8) and the average post-test knowledge score was a 66% (SD = 21.8). Based on the results of a Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, this resulted in a statistically significant change in the anticipated direction (W = 35, p = 0.017). A similar change was observed in the self-efficacy questionnaire with seven out of nine participants reporting increases in self-efficacy. This was also found to be a statistically significant change in the anticipated direction (W = 35, p = 0.017). Results from the satisfaction survey on questions regarding application indicate that these professionals would like additional time and training to support application.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study demonstrate that educators benefit from training from occupational therapy providers to support their students' engagement in valuable occupations like play. Occupational therapists can lay the groundwork for ideal interprofessional collaboration through the sharing of knowledge. Interprofessional collaboration is a crucial aspect of occupational therapy and further enhancement of this workshop series would involve a subsequent set of direct collaborations in the classroom to ensure competency and carryover.
IMPACT STATEMENT: This project demonstrates a model that is effective for creation of virtual workshops, sharing of resources, and providing guidance for interprofessional collaboration that can support engagement and participation in occupations for students with IDD.
References
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2011). Building play skills for healthy children & families [PDF file]. https://www.aota.org/∼/media/Corporate/Files/Practice/Children/Browse/Play/Building%20Play%20Skills%20Tip%20Sheet%20Final.pdf
Barton, E. E., Choi, G., & Mauldin, E. G. (2019). Teaching sequences of pretend play to children with disabilities. Journal of Early Intervention, 41(1), 13-29. http://dx.doi.org.authenticate.library.duq.edu/10.1177/1053815118799466
Griswold, L. A., Overson, C. E., & Benassi, V. A. (2017). Embedding questions during online lecture capture to promote learning and transfer of knowledge. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(3), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2017.023374
Long, M. W., Albright, G., McMillan, J., Shockley, K. M., & Price, O. A. (2018). Enhancing educator engagement in school mental health care through digital simulation professional development. The Journal of School Health, 88(9), 651–659. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12670
