Teaching academic, social and independence skills to slum children

Abstract

This paper explains the work done with children growing up in slums in Mexico and Portugal. Some introductory considerations about factors determining psychological development are made. Development is a function of external and internal factors. Internal factors include a healthy body and external factors an environment with minimal well-being conditions, like a functioning family, a health and educational system, and social peace. Variations in internal and/or external factors can produce a developmental deviation and then developmental problems and/or disorders like intellectual disability, learning disorders, ADHD, etc. Simple, cheap, efficient and scientifically based intervention programs are urgently needed. The author applied Applied Behaviour Analysis techniques to train independence, social & academic skills to slum children with intellectual, physical or sensorial disabilities in Mexico. Similar procedures were applied to train children with school failure problems in a slum-like community in Portugal. Some results are presented in terms of behavioural objectives attained by individual children in different training programs. Some cases of children with blindness, intellectual disability or school failure problems are briefly analysed. Behavioural intervention programs were successful independently of the case, age or problem treated