A Comparative Study on Communication Skills of Out of School and School Going Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Purpose: Communication skills are essential for all individuals in the world to interact with each other. It is the beauty of communication skills to make the population of world capable to share thoughts, experiences, and views with one another. Meaningful communication is always constructed by effective coordination of cognitive, motor, social and linguistic skills. Underlying reasons of genetic or environmental factors affect the cognitive, motor, social and linguistic skills, causing delays in language and communication skills. This comparative study envisioned to find out the communication skills of school going children with IDDs and those who are out of school.Design/Methodology/Approach: This study was descriptive in nature. A sample of 120 children with IDDSs from which 60 were school going and 60 were out of school, was selected from Punjab province of Pakistan. Parents and teachers rated the communication skills of their children with IDDs.Findings: Communication skills in school going children with IDDs significantly and remarkably higher than children with IDDs who are out of school. Study recommends to make education accessible for all and provide all children with IDDs to equitable access to schools so that their cognitive, motor, linguistic and social needs can be fulfilled.Implications: Parental training and awareness campaigns for the development of communication skills will be indispensable. Schools are important for the whole life grooming of individuals with intellectual disabilities.