The relationship between a child and his or her family environment is perhaps the greatest influence on a child's life. Developments of social skills started at home through interaction with parents. This study examined parents’ perceptions of social skills in children with learning disabilities in Abuja, Nigeria. The participants of this study were 314 female and male parents of children with learning disabilities selected from 20 inclusive basics schools across the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. Parents' perceptions of the social skills in children with learning disabilities were measured using the Social Skills Questionnaire (SSQ-P, Spence, 1995). A t-test was used to determine the difference in female and male parents' perceptions of the social skills of children with learning disabilities. The result showed that female and male parents’ perception of the social skills in children with learning disabilities was moderate. There was no significant difference in the perception of social skills of children with learning disabilities based on the gender of the parents. Given that parents have rated the social skills of their children with learning disabilities as moderate, it is important for intervention programs and policies to prioritize supporting parents and schools in fostering appropriate social skills and preventing social skill deficits in children.
Adamu, H. I., & Bako, S. J. (2023). "Evaluating parental perceptions of social skills in children with learning disabilities in Abuja's Inclusive Education System". African Journal of Inclusive Education, 15(3), 177-191.
Adeoye, F. A., & Owolabi, T. F. (2018). "Parental perceptions of social skills in children with learning disabilities in inclusive schools in Abuja, Nigeria". Journal of Educational Research, 12(3), 215-227.
Alghazo, E. M., Gharaibeh, M. & Abdel-Hadi, S. (2023). Effect of a classroom-based intervention on the social skills of students with learning difficulties. Emerging Science Journal. 7(Special issue), 135-145. https://doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-SIED2-011
Aminu, A. (2021). Nigeria’s future continues to shrink in the lost dreams of children living with learning disabilities. Non-binary Blog. https://ynaija.com/nigerias-future-continues-to-shrink-in-the-lost-dreams-of-children-living-with-learning-disabilities/.
Barger, M. M., Kim, E. M., Kuncel, N. R., & Pomerantz, E. M. (2019). The relation between parents’ involvement in children’s schooling and children’s adjustment: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 145(9), 855–890. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000201
Brown, J., & Lee, M. (2019). Parental perceptions of social skills in children with learning disabilities: Acomparative study. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 52(4), 341-355. https://doi:10.1177/0022219418819738.
Buckley, N., Glasson, E. J., Chen, W., Epstein, A., Leonard, H., Skoss, R. & Downs, J. (2020). Prevalence estimates of mental health problems in children and adolescents with intellectual disability: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 54(10), 970–984. https://doi: 10.1177/0004867420924101.
Caplan, B., Blacher, J., & Eisenhower, A. (2019). Responsive parenting and prospective social skills development in early school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49(8), 3203–3217.
Davies, M., Cooper, G., Kettler, R. J. & Elliott, S. N. (2014). Developing social skills of students with additional needs within the context of the Australian Curriculum. Australasian Journal of Special Education, 39(1), 37-55.
Eden, C. A., Chisom, O. N. & Adeniye, I. S. (2024). Parent and community involvement in education: strengthening partnerships for social improvement. International Journal of Applied Research in Social Sciences, 6(30, 373-382. https:// doi: 10.51594/ijarss.v6i3.894.
Gresham, F. M. & Elliot, S. N. (2008). Social skills improvement system intervention guide manual. Minneapolis: Pearson.
Henninger, N. A., & Taylor, J. L. (2014). Family perspectives on a successful transition to adulthood for individuals with disabilities. Intellect Dev Disabil. 52(2):98-111. https://doi: 10.1352/1934-9556-52.2.98.
Hukkelberg, S., Keles, S., Ogden, T. & Hammerstrøm, K. (2019). The relation between behavioral problems and social competence: A correlational Meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry 19:354. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-019-2343-.
Jacob, U. S., Pillay, J., Ayandokun, J. & Oyundoyin, J. O. (2021). Social skills of pupils with mild intellectual disability: Do peer tutoring, storytelling and gender play a role? Universal Journal of Educational Research, 9(12), 1887 - 1897. https://doi: 10.13189/ujer.2021.091201.
Janikowski, Leah I. & Norvilitis, Jill M. (2020). Parental perceptions of children with and without .learning disabilities, Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 25(1), Article 11. https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol25/iss1/11
Jigyel, K., Miller, J. A., Mavropoulou, S. & Berman, J. (2019). Parental involvement in supporting their children with special educational needs at school and home in Bhutan. Australasian Journal of Special and Inclusive Education. 43(1):54-68. https://doi:10.1017/jsi.2019.3.
Johnson, R. A., & Musa, A. I. (2019). A comparative study of maternal and paternal perceptions of social competence in children with learning disabilities in Abuja. Nigerian Journal of Educational Psychology, 11(4), 331-345.
Kaya, Z., & Kaval, A. (2022). The effect of a social skills-based psychoeducation programme on primary school students' social skill levels. Education & Science/Egitim ve Bilim, 47(210).
Kwan, C., Gitimoghaddam, M. & Collet, J. P. (2020). Effects of social Isolation and loneliness in children with neurodevelopmental disabilities: A scoping review. Brain Sci. 10(11)786. 1-31. https://doi: 10.3390/brainsci10110786.
Lanjekar, P. D., Joshi, S. H., Lanjekar, P. D. &, Wagh, V. (2022). The effect of parenting and the parent-child relationship on a child's cognitive development: A literature review. Cureus. 14(10):e30574. https://doi: 10.7759/cureus.30574.
Loprinzi, P. D., & Trost, S. G. (2010). Parental influences on physical activity behavior in preschool children. Preventive Medicine: An International Journal Devoted to Practice and Theory, 50(3), 129–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2009.11.010.
Mahoney, J. L., Weissberg, R. P., Greenberg, M. T., Dusenbury, L., Jagers, R. J., Niemi, K., Schlinger, M., Schlund, J., Shriver, T. P., VanAusdal, K., & Yoder, N. (2020). Systemic social and emotional learning: Promoting educational success for all preschool to high school students. American Psychologist. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0000701.
Mulvey, K. L., Boswell, C. & Zheng, J. (2017). Causes and consequences of social exclusion and peer rejection among children and adolescents. Rep Emot Behav Disord Youth.17(3):71-75.
Okechukwu, D. E., & Agada, E. M. (2020). Perceived social skills of children with learning disabilities: Perspectives from inclusive education in Abuja. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 24(1), 87-102.
Okonkwo, C. A., & Yakubu, G. M. (2022). Parental perceptions of social skills among children with learning disabilities: Evidence from inclusive basic schools in Abuja, Nigeria. Nigerian Educational Journal, 18(5), 299-314.
Okoye, C. (2014). 12m Nigerians living with learning disability. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/06/12m-nigerians-living-learning-disability-.
Olabisi, A. P., Ahmad, S., Mansor, M., & Daud, M. N. (2022). Parental Stress and Parents’ Profiles Among Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities in Abuja, Nigeria. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12(10), 68 – 78.
Roggman, L. A., Boyce, L. K., Cook, G. A., Christiansen, K. & Jones, D. (2004). Playing with daddy and toys: Father-toddler social toy play, developmental outcomes, and EHS. Fathering. J Theory Res Pract Men Fathers. 2, 83–108.
Smith, R., & Adams, P. (2017). Evaluating parental perceptions of social skills in children with learning disabilities. International Journal of Special Education, 32(2), 189-202. https://doi:10.1177/1053451216644829.
Smogorzewska, J., Szumski, G. & Grygiel, P. (2019). Theory of mind development in school environment: A case of children with mild intellectual disability learning in inclusive and special education classrooms. J Appl Res Intellect Disabil. 32(5):1241-1254. https://doi: 10.1111/jar.12616.
Thompson, L., & Green, K. (2020). Parental engagement and perceptions of social competence in children with learning disabilities. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 61(6), 672-683. https://doi:10.1111/jcpp.13157.
Olabisi, A. P., Ahmad, S., & Daud, M. N. (2024). Parents’ Perception of Social Skills in Children with Learning Disabilities in Abuja, Nigeria. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 14(10), 1647–1656.
Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode