ASSESSMENT OF SUPPORT NEEDS OF STUDENTS WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT IN UNIVERSITIES IN NASARAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study assessed the support needs of students with hearing impairment in universities in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The study used a survey research design. The target population comprised of 58 students with hearing impairment in both Federal University Lafia and Nasarawa University Keffi, Nasarawa State. The researchers used a purposive sampling technique to sample the respondents. The researchers used a structured questionnaire to collect data from the respondents. The instrument was validated by experts from Special Needs Education and Measurement and Evaluation, Federal University of Lafia to ensure its validity. Reliability was established using Cronbach Alpha. The reliability value ranged from 0.79 to 0.84. The data collected were analyzed using frequency count, percentages and mean score. The findings revealed that support needs such as sign language interpreters, note-taking services, assistive technology, counselling services and captioning services were not available in universities in Nasarawa State. However, those that were available were not enough to meet the needs of students with hearing impairment. The findings revealed the challenges experienced by students with hearing impairment such as non-availability of interpreters, difficulty in accessing note-takers, communication challenges, poor maintenance of assistive technologies and non-availability of timely captioned materials. The study concluded that the current status of services is significantly below the stipulations of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act of 2018. Recommendations were made to enforce the act, develop minimum service standards and create a quality assurance framework by stakeholders.