Social skills of children with different disabilities: Assessment and implications for interventions

This study characterizes the differences and similarities in the repertoire of social skills of children from 12 different categories of special educational needs: autism, hearing impairment, mild intellectual disabilities, moderate intellectual disabilities, visual impairment, phonological disorder, learning disabilities, giftedness and talent, externalizing behavior problems, internalizing behavior problems, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Teachers of 120 students in regular and special schools, aged between 6 and 14 years old, from four Brazilian states, responded to the Social Skills Rating System. Children with ADHD, autism, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and externalizing behavior problems presented comparatively lower frequency of social skills. The intervention needs of each evaluated category are discussed.

Evaluation of effectiveness of the project ‘Caring caregivers of persons in disability situation’. Bogotá - second semester of 2007

The present paper presents the results of a transversal descriptive study which intended to estimate the contribution of the project “Caring for those who take care of people with disabilities” in the areas of: strength of personal and group competences, self care, life project, dexterity in the care process of people with disabilities, and communitarian auto management; that was implemented in 20 urban areas with caregivers of the city of Bogota in the year 2007. The study allowed the nresearches to acknowledge the little change perception that caregivers had in terms of self care, however, the caregivers perceived change in the four areas, although this were not statistically significant in comparison with the general population. There were only significant changes in the communitarian auto management area in 30% of the population. As a result, it is proposed that more extensive, continuous, and sustainable processes are implemented and that this process arises from contention spaces which can be created with the caregivers, from which they can be motivated to participate in other ´processes of collective and individual changes. Also there’s a need to rely on facilitators (professionals and change agents) who have stronger competences on the how to be and the how to interact competences, because there’s a need to manage the psychosocial components in this group of people. Also, we must make organizational processes and the social networks stronger, this is: collective actions are required, because disability is a social fact, and so, the individual issues are just a moment in the process of inclusion of the person with disability, his family and caregiver.