1. AKINOLA PATRICK OLABISI - Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia.
2. MOH’D NAJMI DAUD - Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia.
3. SAODAH BINTI AHMAD - Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia.
4. MARIANI BTE MANSOR - Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia.
This study investigated perceptual ability assessment profile in special and inclusive schools among children with learning disabilities in Abuja, Nigeria.The absence of dependable instrument(s) and qualified specialists to test perceptual abilities among children with learning difficulties prompted this study.. Five research questions were raised with five formulated hypotheses which were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Cross-sectional and Correlational designs were adopted with the use of simple random sampling to select the schools. The population of the study comprised of 120 out of which 30 children with learning disabilities within the age 13 to 18 years were purposively sampled from two schools; One Inclusive school and one special school in Abuja Metropolis. Learning Disabilities Perceptual Observation Checklist (LDPOC) has a general reliability coefficient alpha of 0.719 to assess the perceptual ability through a developed Master Plan on five perceptual measurement domains with ability levels found varying in the two school environments. The results revealed that children with learning disabilities in Special School have a mean and standard deviation of 2.651.10, while children with learning disabilities in Inclusive School have a mean and standard deviation of 1.840.55, with a df = 28, t-test value of 2.56, and a p-value of 0.016, which is 0.05. This means that there is a significant difference between the mean score perceptual ability between children with learning disabilities in Special and inclusive schools. Based on this finding, there is the need for government agencies of special education to design an appropriate and constructive policy to address the educational and developmental needs of children with learning disabilities in a developing country like Nigeria.
Assessment Profile, Auditory, Figure-Ground, Learning-Disabilities, Perceptual Ability, Perseveration, Visual, Tactile/Kinesthetic.