The determination of effective educational-therapeutic approaches of work with persons with moderate, severe and profound developmental disabilities, especially with persons with severe and profound developmental disabilities, is of the utmost importance in order to improve their quality of life.
The master’s thesis titled “The Influence Of The Snoezelen Approach On Persons With Moderate, Severe And Profound Developmental Disabilities” defines on the basis of theoretical findings snoezelen as an important educational-therapeutic approach for persons with moderate, severe and profound developmental disabilities.
The aim of the research was to examine the effectiveness of the theoretical findings of the snoezelen approach in the population of persons with moderate, severe and profound developmental disabilities. Specifically, we were interested in:
- the influence of the theoretical findings of the snoezelen approach on persons with moderate, severe and profound developmental disabilities, on individual physiological, psychological as well as social areas of functioning of persons with moderate, severe and profound developmental disabilities like breathing, degree of movement, communication level, level of communication with assistant and behaviour;
- observations of professional staff of the effects of the theoretical findings of the snoezelen approach on persons with moderate, severe and profound developmental disabilities.
Data for the study of the impact of the theoretical findings of the snoezelen approach were gathered on a dedicated sample of persons with moderate, severe and profound developmental disabilities, based on observations of professional staff and their evaluation, and assessed on a purpose designed rating scale. In the same manner data for the assessment of perception of professional staff were gathered. Data processing was conducted on the basis of frequency distributions of generalia, frequency distributions of individual rating categories, basic descriptive statistics and the verification of all hypotheses and research questions with the analysis of variance (ANOVA) for dependent samples. The evaluation of the conducted research is presented in the chapters "Analysis of the influence of theoretical findings of the snoezelen approach on persons with moderate, severe and profound developmental disabilities in the context of individual physiological, psychological, and social categories, and the analysis of influential differences regarding the level of developmental disabilities and the age of assessed persons" and "Analysis of the views of professional staff about the possibilities of the influence of the theoretical findings of the snoezelen approach on persons with moderate, severe and profound developmental disabilities".
Based on the evaluation it can be concluded that the theoretical findings of the snoezelen approach − very independently of the level of disability and age of persons with moderate, severe and profound developmental disabilities − positively affect the functioning of the mentioned persons in a way that enables them to experience and feel psychological-physical serenity and thereby eliminate or reduce occurring inappropriate forms of behaviour, as well as improve the quality of sensory processing and sensorimotor learning. In this way the theoretical findings of the snoezelen approach enable persons with moderate, severe and profound developmental disabilities to acquire habits, skills and knowledge faster and easier, which in return enhance their quality of life, and which can be defined as an effective educational-therapeutic approach for them.
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