Primenljivost procedura za razvoj i unapređivanje socijalnih veština u osnovnoj školi – perspektiva defektologa

Abstract

Introduction: When defining the social skills learning program for students with disabilities, it is important, among other things, to take into account the opinions of professionals about certain methods and procedures that will potentially be used during treatment, as well as the possibilities of their application in practice. Objective: The aim of this work is to determine the perspective of special education teachers regarding the applicability of certain procedures for the development and improvement of social skills in the school environment. Methods: The sample consists of 57 special education teachers working in elementary school classes for students with developmental disabilities in Serbia and Macedonia. For the purposes of this research, a special questionnaire was constructed to assess the applicability of 25 evidence-based procedures for the development and improvement of social skills of children and youth. Results: More than half of special education teachers believe that practices such as incentives (70.1%), social stories (68.4%), social skills training (66.7%), visual support (63.2%) and reinforcement (63.2%), video modeling (57.9%) and modeling (56.1%) applicable to a large extent or completely. On the other hand, approximately half of them (45.6%) believe that self-management cannot be applied or can only be applied in certain situations. Less than a third of the respondents believe that peer-mediated interventions (31.6%), task analysis (29.9%), functional communication training (29.8%), self-management (28%) and scripting (26.3%) applicable to a large extent or completely. Conclusion: The obtained results indicate the need for additional education of special education teachers regarding the application of certain procedures, as well as the identification of other factors that hinder their applicability.