Effects of emotional needs on participation of children aged 4-6 with learning disabilities in early childhood centers in Starehe division, Nairobi county, Kenya

Abstract

During early childhood, the foundations for emotional, social and spiritual well being of children with learningdisabilities (CWLD) are laid. The CWLD emotional well being is influenced by all the experiences they go through.It is essential to provide warm, trusting relationships, predictable and safe environment, affirmation and respect forall aspects of children’s emotional, physical, social, cognitive and linguistic well being of CWLD. There is need toactively seek to remove the barriers to learning and participation, meet emotional needs in a positive and pro-activeway and engender a sense of community in an inclusive Early Childhood Education (ECE) environment. The studyassesses the effects of emotional needs on participation of (CWLD) in (ECE) centers in Starehe division in NairobiCounty. In its methodology the study uses structured interview and observation as the principle data collectioninstruments. Likewise, it employed a descriptive research design to gather data. The target population was 5 headteachers, 35 teachers, 20 children aged 4-6 with learning disabilities and 20 parents of children with learningdisabilities. Purposive sampling and simple random sampling were used for this study. Analysis was obtainedthrough editing, coding, classifying and tabulation processes. It was established that emotional needs of (self concept,social competence and respect) which teachers effectively engaged yielded encouraging results in an inclusive ECElearning environment. However, the findings draw attention to inadequacies in the current ECE system of identifyingemotional needs for CWLD.