Guidelines for the language assessment of severely mentally handicapped Indian pupils

Abstract

In special schools for severely mentally handicapped Indian children the class teacher has to assess each pupil's level of language functioning before he can devise an effective language intervention programme to suit the pupil's individual needs. Generally, class teachers are not sufficiently trained to administer such language assessments themselves. The aim of this study was to formulate scientifically sound guidelines according to which class teachers can administer their language assessments. In order to formulate such guidelines, an investigation was undertaken on the phenomenon of mental handicap and the characteristics of severely mentally handicapped pupils. Attention was focussed on language and normal language acquisition before the language of the severely mentally handicapped was examined in detail. On the basis of these findings, guidelines were suggested to the class teacher for the assessment of language in the education of severely mentally handicapped Indian pupils in the Durban area.