This study, targeting at middle school students with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are attending M middle school at the city of Suwon, aimed at examining the effect of horticultural therapy program on the attention deficit action and...
This study, targeting at middle school students with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are attending M middle school at the city of Suwon, aimed at examining the effect of horticultural therapy program on the attention deficit action and behavioral characteristic of social skill of adolescent students with intellectual and developmental disabilities by introducing eco-friendly gardening activity into their activity space 20 times for 90 minutes every time twice per week from April, 2009 and enforcing proper horticultural therapy program to the subject.
It examined the characteristic of social, psychological, and emotional behavior before and after the operation of horticultural therapy program, Matson's standard of social skill assessment for child, and the degree of being skilled. And summary of result of the study is as follows.
The experiment group which examined the characteristic of social, psychological, and emotional behavior was from pre-average 89.80 to post-average 95.00 and showed statistically similar difference(p=.003). The control group was from pre-average 91.13 to post-average 92.20 and showed statistically similar difference at the level of p<.05(p=.010), but there was a big difference in total average as compared to the experiment group.
In case of Matson's standard of social skill assessment, the experiment group was from pre-average 169.80 to post-average 199.87 and showed statistically very similar difference(p=.000). The control group was from pre-average 183.07 to post-average 186.93 and showed statistically similar difference(p=.021) at the level of p<.05, but there was a difference in average as compared to the experiment group.
In case of examining the degree of being skilled, the experiment group was from pre-average 12.40 to post-average 19.07 and showed statistically very similar difference(p=.000), and the control group was from pre-average 12.467 to post-average 11.933 and thus, the average was decreased and the experiment group was increased dif6.67 in average. Therefore, it is indicated that the degree of being skilled to the gardening activity was improved at the experiment group after the operation of horticultural therapy.
In case of ACTeRS, the experiment group was from pre-average 47.40 to post-average 52.73 and showed statistically similar difference(p=.035). The control group was from pre-average 47.87 to post-average 48.40 and didn't show statistically similar difference(p=.072) at the level of p<.05.
Accordingly, it was assessed and analyzed that the horticultural therapy has a positive effect on ADHD and the behavioral characteristic of social skill of adolescent students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and thus, the degree of being skilled is improved and it was also efficient to social, psychological, and emotional behavior.
At an adolescent period that one grows rapidly physically and mentally during one's lifetime, students with intellectual and developmental disabilities lack attention and go through emotionally difficult time because of neurological problem, lack of functional development, and shortage of perceiving abilities.
The social skill represents sociality to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and if the improvement of behavior of social adaptation is the most important goal of education, it was indicated that the horticultural therapy is possible to approach to students with cognitive retardation without a psychological burden while at the same time it is very effective to the improvement of social skill.
The follow-up study of professional long-term horticultural therapy program for the juvenile disabled is constantly necessary in the future, and you can look forward to considerable rising effect on the expansion of the base of horticultural therapy and recognition about the specialized area by the existence and activity of that field of study.