Assessment and comparison of the social skills of normal students and students with special needs with emphasis on integrated education

The aim of this study was to assess the social skills of ordinary students and compare them with exceptional students with an emphasis on integrated education. The research method employed was descriptive survey, with the statistical population consisting of all normal and exceptional school students in the elementary school of Qom province. The research sample comprised 495 participants randomly chosen through Morgan table. The research instrument was Vinland’s Social Skills Test, whose validity was approved via expert opinion with its reliability equivalent to 0.83% based on Cronbach’s alpha. Descriptive statistics (percentage frequency tables, graphs, central indexes and dispersion) and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data using one-sample T test and Levene’s test. The results showed that the mean of general self-help was 99.73% and 99.99%, self-help in eating 75.54% and 96.49%, self-help in wearing 70.20% and 96.66%, self-leadership 6.93% and 72.74%, occupational issues 69.10% and 96.99%, movement and mobility 67.32% and 94.07%, verbal communication 52.87% and 76.56%, socializing 64.68%  and 99.83% is obtained in exceptional and normal students, respectively.