المهارات الاجتماعية لدى الأطفال العاديين و المعوقين بصريا في مرحلة ما قبل المدرسة بالمملكة الأردنية الهاشمية

Abstract EN

The study aimed to identify the social skills level of normal children and their peers visually handicapped in the (4-6 ) years age category .

It also aimed to investigate the differences in social skills between the normal and the visually handicapped children, as well as, between males and females of both groups.

The study sample consisted of (85) children (40 males , 45 females) , (43) of them were normal children aged (4-6) years (17 males , 26 females) from the kindergarten children in Deir Alla Basic School for Girls and Al-Tuawl Al-Shamali Basic School for Girls in Al- Balka Governorate in Jordan , and (42) of them (23 males ,19 females) were visually handicapped (low sighted , totally blind) from the kindergarten children of the Episcopal Kindergarten in Irbid and Al-Diaa' Kindergarten in Amman Educational Zone , Jordan.

A Social Skills Scale for normal and special needs preschool children (prepared by the researchers) was applied to the study sample individual.

The scale included (40) items distributed into (4) social skills dimensions (interaction with others, social participation, understanding feelings, emotions of others and social communication), each dimension involved (10) items.

The validity and reliability of the scale were also verified.

The results of the study revealed the following: The level of the social skills of normal preschool children was high and the levels of the social skills components ranged between medium and high.

The social skills level among visually handicapped children was generally medium in all components of the social skill and in the total scale degree.

There were statistically significant differences in social skills between the normal children and the visually handicapped in favor of the normal children.

There were significant differences between normal males and females in both understanding the feelings and emotions of others and the social communication dimensions in favor of females.

There were significant differences between visually handicapped males and females in the social communication dimension in favor of females.

The study recommended the application to parents and teachers of the visually handicapped children aiming at developing the social skills of these children and facilitating their inclusion with their normal counterparts and in society..