Identification of necessary interpersonal skills for mentally retarded students from the perspectives of parents, teachers, and professionals

The aim of this research was to identify the necessary interpersonal skills for mentally retarded students from the perspectives of parents, teachers, and professionals. It was a descriptive survey utilizing literature review to determine interpersonal skills related to mentally retarded students in an international approach. In the next stage, perspectives of parents, teachers, and professionals have been surveyed using a researcher developed questionnaire. Thus, 151 parents, 144 teachers, and 42 professionals have been selected as the study subjects. Cluster sampling method was utilized to select parents and teachers, and a purposeful sampling procedure was used to select professionals. After preliminary study and determination of the psychometric properties of the questionnaire, it was administered on the target population. At the end, data was analyzed by descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential (one-way analysis of variance) statistical methods and 15 necessary social skills were extracted. The results also indicated significant differences between the perspectives of parents, teachers, and professionals.