The effect of family-oriented social skills training program on cochlear implant users

Hearing impaired individuals، who have undergone cochlear implantation، do not have satisfactory relationships with their peers and cannot be fully integrated into the hearing communities. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a family-oriented social skills training program on cochlear implant users. In this experimental study، 16 volunteer families consisting of mothers and their 12-19 year old children، who had undergone cochlear implantation at least two years in advance، were chosen from 328 families، members of the Hearing Rehabilitation Association of Iran. They responded to social skills rating scale as pre-test after they were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. The experimental group underwent a 12-session social skills training. The social skills rating scale was then administered as a post-test in the two groups. The results showed the effectiveness of the family-oriented social skills training program on assertion (p<0. 01)، self-controlling (p<0. 01)، and general social skills (p<0. 01); however، they showed no significant effect on cooperation (p>0. 05). The study revealed that family-oriented social skills training program is effective in improving the social skills of individuals with cochlear implantation. Therefore، this training program can be employed to improve these skills as an integral part of the rehabilitation program.