Abstract:

Inclusive education guarantees enable children with disabilities to develop their potential and play an important role in the development of their intellectual, social, and other skills. Social skills, as a prerequisite for a full-fledged social life, are essential for the autonomy of the individual and his/her ability to adapt to social situations. One of the more pronounced challenges for children with severe and profound special educational needs is the difficulty of verbal and non-verbal communication, which leads to the social exclusion of the individual. The research problem is addressed by the following problematic questions: what are the characteristics of the expression of social skills identified by pedagogues? What are the essential structural components of children's social skills? The research aims to reveal the peculiarities of the social skills of children with severe and profound special educational needs.

The research methodology. The study was conducted in Lithuanian educational institutions between October 2022 and March 2023. The research methods were used - theoretical analysis, semi-structured interviews, observation; quantitative and qualitative content analysis of observation protocols, and interview texts. The study is based on the theory of the strengths perspective (Saleebey, 1997), focusing on the child's existing strengths. The basis of social skills development for children with severe and very profound educational needs is the identification of their individual strengths (existing abilities) and developmental/social needs (missing abilities). The knowledge of the individual structure of social skills of these pupils allows for a more targeted orientation and justification of the principles detailing the educational strategies, as well as the perspectives of modeling the development of individual social skills. Based on the insights of teachers (N=60) and behavioral observation of children with severe and profound special educational needs (N=30), the structure of social skills has been revealed, highlighting the expression of the available social skills.

The research results. Intrapersonal non-verbal skills dominate the social skills structure of children with severe and profound special educational needs. Interpersonal skills are less developed. The empirical data revealed that the social skills structure of children with severe and profound special needs is broadly in line with the hypothetical model of social skills. However, their social skills expression is characterised by a rudimentary level of intrapersonal functionality and limited interpersonal skills.

Keywords:

Development of social skills, children with severe and profound SEND, teachers’ opinion, observation, content analysis.