Improving Laundry Skills of Children with Developmental

Disabilities through Apprenticeships at Laundry Cling

Oom Sitti Homdijah, Tjutju Soendari and Prima Dea Pangestu

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Dr. Setiabudhi No. 229, Bandung, Indonesia

oomshomdijah@upi.edu, tjutjusoendari56@gmail.com

Keywords: Children with Developmental Disabilities, Laundry Skills, Apprenticeship.

Abstract: This paper reports the results of study on six intellectually disable children’s laundry skills during an

apprenticeship at a laundry shop in Majalengka, Jawa Barat, Indonesia. These six children’s IQ ranges from

52 to 58, and they have gross motor skills such as loading and unloading washing machines, lifting, moving,

and hanging washed clothes. They have fine motor skills such as coupling the washing machine water inlet

hose with a faucet, turning the faucet on/off, setting up the washer’s timer. This study employed a quantitative

experimental design. The study began with a pretest. The pretest consisted of 65 test items about children’s

laundry skills. The pretest average score was 157.4 with a percentage of 67.72%. After a one-month

apprenticeship, the posttest was administered. The result revealed that the children obtained an average score

of 214.4 with a percentage of 91.61%. It can be concluded that the apprenticeship improved the laundry skills

of children with mild developmental disabilities.

1 INTRODUCTION

Children with developmental disabilities are those

with significant intellectual disabilities and low

adaptive behavior skills. Their intellectual disabilities

affect their academic development. Their academic

skills are clearly below the average. Their education

should focus on their self-reliance and life skills not

on their academic development. The reality is not the

case. Their education is too focused on their academic

development. Findings at SMALB SLB C YPLB

Majalengka revealed that the school instructions were

not focused on life skills needed by the intellectually

disable children.

Life skills provided in school have been too

theoretical despite the fact that, as Wahyuni’s (2011)

study showed, the ratio of theory and practice should

be 1:4. Theoretical instruction is carried out in the

classroom, and practical instruction outside the

classroom. Even better if the practical instruction is

given in collaboration with their prospective

employers. This is in line with Astati’s (2009, p. 5)

statement, “... it is necessary to design an instruction

collaboratively involving teachers, government,

parents, and prospective employers who can give an

idea about the type of works, methods, and strategies

appropriate for children with special needs. It is

necessary to design a vocational education and

vocational training suitable for children with special

needs.”

An apprenticeship is one of practical instructions

to equip intellectually disable children enrolled in

SMALB (special senior high school) with life skills.

According to Anwar (2012), an apprenticeship is

learning process to acquire life skills with or without

guidance from the more skillful persons. One of

benefits of an apprenticeship system is that it enables

children experience work experience while studying.

This is necessary to equip intellectually disable

children with life skills, both personal and social

skills. An apprenticeship enables a skillful person to

provide them with appropriate trainings.

It also enables the intellectually disable children

to directly learn from professional instructor in the

workplace. Some studies showed that “...

apprenticeships and traineeships produce positive

works and open career paths for disabled adults. The

positive works is associated with the improvement of

the participants’ quality of life” (Cocks, Thoresen and

Lee, 2015).

Considering the aforesaid description, the

researchers were interested to conduct a study entitled

504

Homdijah, O., Soendari, T. and Pangestu, P.

Improving Laundry Skills of Children with Developmental Disabilities through Apprenticeships at Laundry Cling.

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Educational Sciences (ICES 2017) - Volume 1, pages 504-509

ISBN: 978-989-758-314-8

“Improving Laundry Skills of Children with

Developmental Disabilities through Apprenticeships

at Laundry Cling Majalengka.” This study is of a

great importance so as to help children with

developmental disabilities experience real work

environments.

2 RESEARCH METHOD

This study used a quantitative experimental pretest-

posttest design. This design is selected to ensure the

accuracy of the result by comparing the condition

before and after treatment. In addition, the design

selection was also due to the limited number of

subjects.

Using this design, the subjects took a pretest to

figure out their initial condition (O1) before receiving

treatment (X). After treatment, they took a posttest to

see the result (O2) of the treatment. This design is

illustrated as follows the Figure 1:

Figure 1: Research design.

The samples were six students at SMALB C

YPLB Majalengka, selected using a non-probability

sampling technique based on the following

conditions:

 The subject should be special senior high school

students with mild developmental disabilities.

Amin (1995, p. 25) said that, with reference to

Weschler’s (WISC) scale, students with mild

developmental disabilities are those with IQ

score range of 55-69 or 52-68 according to

Binet’s scale.

 The subject must not have gross and fine motor

difficulties. The indicators for gross motor skills

in doing laundry include loading and unloading

washing machines, lifting and hanging the

washed clothes. The indicators for fine motor

skills included collecting laundry, flipping

laundry, coupling the washer’s water inlet with

a faucet, turning a faucet on/off, setting the

washer's timer, and storing the detergent (See in

Table 1).

Table 1: The physical evidence of children’s gross and fine

motor skills in doing laundry.

Name

Motor Skills in Doing

Laundry

Gross Motor

Fine Motor

Loading and

unloading

washing

machines,

lifting,

moving and

hanging the

washed

clothes.

Collecting

laundry,

flipping

laundry,

coupling the

washer’s

water inlet

with a faucet,

turning a

faucet on/off,

setting the

washer's

timer, and

storing the

detergent.

Loading and

unloading

washing

machines,

lifting,

moving and

hanging the

washed

clothes.

Collecting

laundry,

flipping

laundry,

coupling the

washer’s

water inlet

with a faucet,

turning a

faucet on/off,

setting the

washer's

timer, and

storing the

detergent.

Loading and

unloading

washing

machines,

lifting,

moving and

hanging the

washed

clothes.

Collecting

laundry,

flipping

laundry,

coupling the

washer’s

water inlet

with a faucet,

turning a

faucet on/off,

setting the

washer's

timer, and

storing the

detergent.

washing

machines,

lifting,

moving and

hanging the

washed

clothes.

Collecting

laundry,

flipping

laundry,

coupling the

washer’s

water inlet

with a faucet,

turning a

X O

Improving Laundry Skills of Children with Developmental Disabilities through Apprenticeships at Laundry Cling

505

faucet on/off,

and storing

the detergent.

washing

machines,

lifting,

moving and

hanging the

washed

clothes.

Collecting

laundry,

flipping

laundry,

coupling the

washer’s

water inlet

with a faucet,

turning a

faucet on/off,

setting the

washer's

timer, and

storing the

detergent.

Loading and

unloading

washing

machines,

lifting,

moving and

the washed

clothes.

Collecting

laundry,

flipping

laundry,

coupling the

washer’s

water inlet

with a faucet,

turning a

faucet on/off,

and storing

the detergent.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Results

Students’ average result of the pretest was 67.72%.

After a one-month apprenticeship, the posttest was

administered. The result revealed that the students

obtained an average percentage of 91.61%. Figure 2

shows that students had different laundry skills.

Figure 2: Students’ laundry skills before apprenticeship.

Figure 3: Laundry skill pretest and posttest scores of

students with mild developmental disabilities.

Based on the Figure 3, the description of each

sample’s obtained scores:

 AM’s pretest and posttest scores were 162 and

194 respectively; the score improved by 32 with

a percentage of 19.75%.

 AS’s pretest and posttest scores were 142 and

187 respectively; the score improved by 45 with

a percentage of 31.69%.

 AN’s pretest and posttest scores were 107 and

165 respectively; the score improved by 58 with

a percentage of 54.20%.

 PI’s pretest and posttest scores were 119 and

176 respectively; the score improved by 57 with

a percentage of 47.90%.

 HK’s pretest and posttest scores were 121 and

177 respectively; the score improved by 56 with

a percentage of 46.28%.

 IM’s pretest and posttest scores were 136 and

173 respectively; the score improved by 37 with

a percentage of 27.20%.

The collected data were analyzed using the

Wilcoxon test. This computation was carried out due

to the small number of samples and the paired data.

The procedure of Wilcoxon test is as follows:

 The difference between paired data (X - Y) was

given an absolute value. The absolute values

were given from the smallest to the largest or

vice versa. The smallest absolute value was

numbered or ranked 1, and the next difference

was numbered or ranked 2 and so on.

 Every difference was given positive and

negative symbols.

 The rank of the positive difference was then

calculated.

 The smallest difference became the absolute

value and was marked with the letter J. The

smallest absolute value or J became the basis of

hypothesis testing using the Wilcoxon test.

The result of Wilcoxon test is presented in the

following table:

ICES 2017 - 1st International Conference on Educational Sciences

506

Table 2: Result of Wilcoxon test on social skills of teenage students with mild developmental disabilities.

Name

Score

Difference

Rank

Symbol

Posttest

(A)

Pretest

(B)

(+)

(-)

194

162

187

142

165

107

176

119

177

121

173

136

Total

Table 2 shows the difference between pretest and

posttest scores and students’ ranking. The smallest

absolute value or J became the basis for hypothesis

testing using the Wilcoxon test.

The proposed hypotheses are as follows:

 H1 = The apprenticeship system can improve

the laundry skills of special senior high school

students with mild developmental disabilities at

SLB C YPLB Majalengka.

 H0= The apprenticeship system cannot improve

the laundry skills of special senior high school

students with mild developmental disabilities at

SLB C YPLB Majalengka

The significance level was 0.05.

The hypothesis testing used a one-tailed test. If the

observed J is smaller or equals the critical J, the null

hypothesis is rejected (Susetyo, 2010, p. 230).

 H0 is rejected if Jo  Jc

 H0 is accepted if Jo > Jc

 If H0 is rejected, the apprenticeship system can

improve the laundry skills of special senior high

school students with mild developmental

disabilities at SLB C YPLB Majalengka.

 If H0 is accepted, the apprenticeship system

cannot improve the laundry skills of special

senior high school students with mild

developmental disabilities at SLB C YPLB

Majalengka.

The result of the calculation revealed that the

observed J was 0. With a significance level of 0,05

and the sample size of 6, the critical J was 0. Since Jo

= 0  Jc = 0, H0 is rejected. It can be concluded that

the apprenticeship system improved the laundry skills

of special senior high school students with mild

developmental disabilities at SLB C YPLB

Majalengka.

3.2 Discussion

The result of the calculation revealed that the

observed J was 0. With a significance level of 0,05

and the sample size of 6, the critical J was 0. Since Jo

= 0  Jc = 0, H0 is rejected. This means that the

apprenticeship system improved the laundry skills of

special senior high school students with mild

developmental disabilities at SLB C YPLB

Majalengka.

This finding is in agreement with Sofyandireja’s

(2012) work, which found that apprenticeship system

improved the cleaning service skills of special senior

high school students with mild developmental

disabilities. In addition, Mumpuniarti (2006) says that

an apprenticeship system is a program to improve

vocational skills in an education setting. On-job

training is carried out with a careful consideration and

with regard to students’ skills, abilities, and readiness.

This is in line with what Anwar (2012, p. 80) says that

an apprenticeship system allows students to

experience the real work environments so as to

improve their skills. Pereira, Kyriazopoulou, and

Weber (2016) state, “... competent staff can build

trust and strengthen relationships with employers,

contribute to the adjustment of educational and

vocational training curricula to work needs and help

open employment opportunities for learners.”

During the apprenticeship, the researchers

observed not only students’ skills and performance in

doing laundry, but also some other aspects affected

by the conduct of the research; among others:

 A change in the laundry shop owner’s paradigm.

They became aware of the intellectually disable

children’s capability and could trust them to do

laundry works. This trust even landed two best

performers of the six apprentices the job at the

Improving Laundry Skills of Children with Developmental Disabilities through Apprenticeships at Laundry Cling

507

shop. According to Shah (2008) and ILO (2011)

in Pereira, Kyriazopoulou, and Weber (2016),

“...students should be the key informant for the

professionals. Their wish and hopes should not

be taken for granted especially during the

transition phase of their life. If students are

involved in the process of finding and selecting

appropriate job opportunities, perhaps their

transition to the workplace will run smoothly.

An ecological approach should be done during

the job selection, especially for those with high

intellectual disabilities. This can be done by

finding appropriate job environments, not by

changing certain social behaviors.

 The improvement of students’ self-confidence

in their work environments. This could be seen

in their behavioral change from showing

shyness and timidity to enthusiasm when doing

their works. This resulted in satisfactory

performance.

 This intrigued the school to establish

partnerships with other corporations for another

apprenticeship programs. The school became

aware that what students needed most was self-

reliance, so they could get a job once they finish

their study.

It was observed that during the apprenticeship,

there were some problems such as:

 The instructors at the laundry shop did not really

understand the intellectually disable children’s

characters. Sometimes their instruction could

not be really understood by the children. Pereira,

Kyriazopoulou and Weber (2016) say that it is

observed in many European countries that it is

necessary to provide an inclusive vocational

education and training (VET) at the local

administrative level. The focal point is to help

local policy makers be more committed to the

inclusive ideas. It also helps establish formal or

informal alliances between educational

institutions and companies / administrations, for

example through corporate social responsibility

(CSR) activities or negotiated agreements. This

eventually facilitates relationships between

students and corporations/employers as a

relevant aspect during transition from VET to

the labor market.

 More supervision is required because the

intellectually disable students have difficulties

in understanding a new situation.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Overall, students’ laundry skills improved after the

apprenticeship. In addition, they earned trust from the

laundry shop, and it is not impossible for them to be

hired by the laundry shop in question.

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