Investigation of Applicability of the Sports Life Coaching on the Mentally Retarded Individuals

Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate the effects of a sports life coaching program on the socialization levels of mentally retarded individuals. The sample consists of mentally retarded individuals in Turkey and the sample group is formed by a total of 24 educable mentally retarded individuals who are receiving special education in Mugla. Twelve of them were selected for the experiment group and the remaining twelve were placed in a control group. A 30-item Socialization Levels of Mentally Retarded Individuals questionnaire was answered by the parents. Frequency statistics were used to determine the demographic characteristics of participants, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to determine possible differences between groups. Significant differences were found between the pretest and posttest scores of the socialization level of mentally retarded individuals, the opinions of the family about sports and also, a positive impact of sports and socialization impacts of sports.