Examining the social adaptation and skills of the mentally handicapped children in educational status according to their participation in sports activities (The example of Malatya province)

Aim: The aim of this study is to examine the social adaptation and skills of mentally handicapped children, who can be educated, according to their participation in sportive activities, with the determined methods. It was thought that participation in sportive activities would have a positive effect on the social adaptation and skills of children with educable mental disabilities, and the study aimed to confirm this hypothesis. Material and Method: A total of 92 trainable mentally retarded children, 53 of whom participated in sports activities and 39 who did not participate in sports activities, residing in Malatya province participated in the research. As a data collection tool in the research, an information collection form was used to determine the demographic characteristics of the educable mentally retarded children including age, body weight, height and gender, and the social cohesion and skill scale to measure the social adaptation and skill level of the educable mentally retarded children. Data analysis was done in SPSS 22.0 statistical package program. Results: According to the findings obtained from the research, there were no significant differences in terms of social cohesion and skill scale according to gender and age group (p>0.05), while there were significant differences in participation in extracurricular activities, participation in sportive activities and weekly sports activities. (p>0.05) Conclusion: As a result of our research, it has been concluded that gender and age group are not effective on the social adaptation and skills of the mentally retarded individuals at the trainable level, while the participation in extracurricular activities, the status of participating in sports activities and the weekly sports status are effective on the social adaptation and skills of the mentally retarded individuals at the trainable level. Key Words: Sportive Activity, Social Cohesion, Intellectual Disability