Caregivers’ Attitudes Towards Disability Among Parents and Staff at St. Vincent Centre for Inclusive Education, Uyo, Nigeria

The attitudes of the adults who care for and teach children with special needs play a decisive role in the success of inclusive education. This study examined the attitudes of parents/caregivers and staff towards disability at St. Vincent Centre for Inclusive Education, Uyo, Nigeria, with the objective of describing and comparing their attitudes across four attitudinal domains. The study was guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and Attachment Theory, which together explain how adults within a child’s immediate environment shape acceptance, expectation and emotional security. A quantitative descriptive survey design was adopted. The target population comprised all parents/caregivers linked to children with special needs at the Centre and all members of staff. A census (total population) approach was used to reach the caregivers, while proportionate stratified sampling organised the staff group, yielding a sample of 44 parents/caregivers and 25 staff. Data were collected using the Attitudes to Disability Scale (ADS), administered with the support of a trained research assistant, and analysed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, medians and score ranges). The findings showed that both parents and staff were strongest on Discrimination awareness and support for Inclusion, but weakest on Prospects, with no respondent scoring high on optimism about children’s futures; staff were additionally doubtful about the Gains of inclusion (M = 9.64) compared with parents (M = 13.89). These results imply that the central challenge at the Centre is not acceptance of children with special needs but limited belief in their long-term possibilities. The study recommends sustained parent education, staff professional development and school–family collaboration that build hopeful, realistic and high-expectation beliefs about children with special needs.

disability, caregiver attitudes, parents, staff, inclusive education, Attitudes to Disability Scale, Nigeria

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