Dilemmas Confronted by Special Education Teachers in Facilitating Mathematical Competencies among Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

Mathematical skills are important for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) to function and be independent in their daily life. Learning math skills is more crucial since people with IDDs have weak social, practical, and conceptual skills. The main purpose of this quantitative study is to identify the problems faced by special education teachers in teaching mathematical skills to students with IDDs. Population of the study consisted of special education teachers working in Lahore. A sample of 80 special educationalists selected purposefully from different special education schools in Lahore. Researchers used self-developed questionnaire to take responses from respondents. Researchers analyzed the data by using parametric statistic. Frequency distributions of teacher’s responses were calculated. Major findings revealed that special education teachers face a little problem in teaching pre-number concepts but face a lot of problems in teaching division, subtraction and addition in mathematical operations. Conclusion was drawn and recommendations were given to parents and teachers to overcome the issues regarding mathematical skills of students with IDDs.