Instruction of Safety Skills for the Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

This study aims to develop a valid and reliable assessment tool for the assessment of safety skills of individuals with intellectual disabilities, examine the effectiveness of the Safety Skills Instruction Program (SSIP) in teaching safety skills to these individuals, determine the preservation of skills after instruction by observation, and determine the views of parents and students respecting the teaching of safety skills. This research is designed in an explanatory sequential design, which is one of the mixed research methods. The examination of the construct validity process has indicated that the Safety Skills Test (SST) has a structure of four factors. 540 individuals with intellectual disabilities participated in the development of the measurement tool, and 32 individuals with intellectual disabilities participated in the implementation of the curriculum. It is determined that the level of safety skills of the students with mild intellectual disabilities who have attended the instruction is higher than the ones who have not attended, according to the mean ranks. It is found that the safety skills of students are preserved at a rate of 85–85%, according to the observation data gathered one week later. According to the result of the interview data, students and parents feel pleased about the instruction and think that the skills have been learned to a large extent.