Investigating the effect of teaching communication skills on aggression and adaptation of mentally retarded children

Background and purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of teaching communication skills on aggression and adaptation of mentally retarded children.
Materials and methods: The research method was semi-experimental and pre-test and post-test design was multi-group with control group. The statistical population was all female students with intellectual disabilities, 8-17 years old, from the exceptional school of Torbat Jam city, from which the sample was divided into two groups of 30 people non-randomly (30 test people - 30 control people). Then the test group was divided into 6 groups of 5 people, according to the basic For the test group, a communication skills protocol was implemented. Then, for the test group, a 14-session communication skills training protocol was implemented (each session for 20 minutes), and the control group did not receive training in this phase. Aggression questionnaire (Shahim-1386) and children's adjustment questionnaire (Dakhanchi-1377) were used, data analysis with SPSS-22 software and descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (multivariate covariance analysis-t test) independent regression) was performed.
Results: The results showed that communication skills training has an effect in reducing aggression and increasing adaptation of mentally disabled children.
Conclusion: By teaching communication skills, the aggression of mentally retarded children was reduced and their adaptability increased. Therefore, the intervention method of communication skills can be used as a specific and effective training to reduce aggression and improve the adaptation of children with oral disabilities.