Effect of Life Skills Training on Social Skills of Hearing Impaired Students

Abstract

Life skill training is extremely relevant to the social skillsof children. The purpose of the present research is to investigate the effectiveness of life skills training on the social skills of hearing impaired students between 10 and 12 years old.This research employed the experimental method using pretest and posttest design, with a control group. The participants were 38 male hearing-impaired students, with sensory-neural hearing in the range of 50 to 90 decibels. They were selected from two schools for the deaf in Tehran Province using a cluster sampling method. Subjects were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group, each consisting of 19 students. The experimental group was subjected life skills training for 9 sessions, whereas the control group was not. The Wechsler intelligence test was used for matching the groups in their IQs, while their social skills rating scale was used for measuring their social skills. The data were recorded and statistically analyzed using MANOVA. The results of MANOVA showed that life skills training had a significant effect on the social skills and subscales (cooperation, assertiveness and self-control) in the experimental group, while in the control group no change was observed (p < 0.0001).Life skills training can improve the social skills of hearing impaired students. Therefore, training of life skills has a crucial role in improving the social skills of hearing impaired students, and deserves to be given more attention. Keywords:Life skills, social skills,hearing impaired students.