The purpose of this study was to examine how Brolin's Personal and Social Skill Program affected the interpersonal and social skills of children with mental retardation, part of interpersonal skills, and their improper behaviors.
The subjects of this...
The purpose of this study was to examine how Brolin's Personal and Social Skill Program affected the interpersonal and social skills of children with mental retardation, part of interpersonal skills, and their improper behaviors.
The subjects of this study selected 20 children with mental retardation who were enrolled in a special class in the city of K, north Gyeongsang province. In that class, children who were absent from school for a long time were excluded, and multiple-handicapped children who suffered from severe behavioral disorder, language disorder or emotional disturbance were also ruled out.
It's attempted in this study to make an experiment to identify the effect of Brolin's Personal and Social Skill Program on the interpersonal skills of children with mental retardation. Brolin's program was selected as an independent variable, and interpersonal skills were chosen as a dependent variable. Specifically, two dependent variables were selected, which included interpersonal and social skill and improper behavior. After pretest was conducted, and then the program was applied, final, posttest was implemented.
The findings of the study were as follows;
First, Brolin's Personal and Social Skill had a positive effect on improving the interpersonal and social skill of children with mental retardation. The posttest results showed that their interpersonal and social skill made an improvement, and the girls made a better progress than the boys. Especially, the Personal and Social Skills was remarkably effective in developing their socializing skills and facilitating their response toward any criticism.
Second, that program had a favorable effect on changing the improper behaviors of children with mental retardation. In particular, they gave significantly less reactions to self-stimuli in the posttest, and the boys responded significantly less than the girls. That program had a better effect on their improper behaviors, which implied that Brolin's Personal and Social Skills was especially effective in that regard.
There are some suggestions on education of children with mental retardation;
First, as just a small number of subjects were examined during a short period of time, the findings of the study might not be generalizable.
Second, Brolin's Personal and Social Skills should be applied as part of individual transition programs in response to the needs of students with disabilities, and sufficient administrative and financial support should be provided for school, relevant institutes and parents to team up with.
Third, this program is expected to offer early education to physically challenged school children, if it's tailored to their needs, and lots of programs of this approach should be prepared in a way to cater to their needs.