Abstract:
Autism is neuro developmental disorder resulting into impairment in communication
and social interaction. Mainstreaming of learners with autism in schools is a global
trend and has been the subject of ongoing research and discussion in recent decades.
There exists little documented evidence on various strategies used by teachers to
improve education experiences of learners with Autism in the mainstreamed schools,
and their effects on educational experience for the autistic learners. This study
therefore, aimed to assess the effects of; learners Peer Interaction, learners’ Selfmanagement, Antecedent Procedures, and Peer-Mediated Interventionsstrategies on
educational experience of learners with autism in primary schools in Nyamache subcounty in Kisii County. The study was guided by Vygotsky’s theory and Autism
Inclusive collaboration Model. A descriptive survey design was adapted in this study
employing purposive sampling to select 47 respondents. The selected population was
composed of 11headteachers and 36 SNE trained teachers from mainstreamed schools
with Autistic learners in Nyamache Sub County. Structured questionnaires and
observation schedules were formulated and examined for validity and reliability by
computing the validity coefficient index and usingCronbach alpha reliability test. The
instruments had 0.67 and 0.8 validity index and reliability index respectively hence,
they were considered appropriate for use in data collection. Data was analyzed using
both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptively, frequency and percentages
were used while inferentially, the Spear-man Correlation and Chi Square test were
used. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25 and Microsoft Excel
were used as appropriate tools in the analysis. It was established that most of the
respondents (84.8%) agreed that; peer interaction plays a significant role in enhancing
education experience of learners with Autism. Similarly, majority of the respondents
(62.1%, 80.5%, and 69.5%) indicated that learner’s self-management, use of
antecedent procedures and the peer mediated Intervention respectively were important
strategies for enhancing education experience for autistic learners. The Chi Square
and Spearman correlation tests revealed significant association between the four
selected strategies and educational experience of learners living with autism in
mainstream primary schools reporting t values of 4.698, 5.393, 4.560, and 5.084
respectively. The study concluded that mainstreaming assists the learners with Autism
as they learn new skills from their peers and hence their educational experiences were
improved effectively. Based on the study findings, it was recommended that schools
teaching model incorporated with antecedent procedures and peer mediated learning
be considered as effective strategies in the mainstreamed schools to enhance the
learning process and improve learning experience for autistic learners.
