Effects of Social Skills Training on Loneliness for Adolescents with Intellectual Disability

The social interactions and the quality of relationships of youth are likely to be related to their later adjustment in adulthood; therefore, early interventions to remediate social difficulties appear crucial (Hensen, Watson- Perczel, & Christopher, 1989). Social skills deficits may be conceptualized within the model of effective information processing (Gresham, Elliott, & Black, 1987; Kramer, Piersel, & Glover, 1987). The goal of most social learning programs consists of helping the individual to develop the skills necessary for changing either the person himself/herself, the environmental context or both. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of social skills training using play therapy on the social competence of students with intellectual disability within an experimental and control group design. The objective of the study is to identify the effects of play therapy on social skills and loneliness of students with Intellectual disability. 20 samples were collected using purposive sampling method at WISDOMMS Learning Centre for special children, Chennai. The experimental group (N = 10) was trained with play therapy techniques in 7 sessions for one hour a session at alternative days for 15 days. Each student was assessed before and after the training using UCLA loneliness scale (Russell D; Peplau L. A & Ferguson M. L,1978), Modified Social Skills Rating System (Frank M. Gresham and Stephen, 2016), Social skills and Loneliness respectively. t-test was used to compare the level of social skills among the experimental and control group after intervention. This study concluded that two weeks of Social skill training (Jenga game) was effective in enhancing Social skill and reducing Loneliness. Hence, Social skill training or Play therapy (Jenga game) can be incorporated among intellectual disability, to reduce the level of loneliness.