Facilitating the vocational-interpersonal skills of mentally retarded individuals

A program was designed to teach interpersonal skills to mentally retarded individuals in order to facilitate their vocational adjustment and prevent job termination. Thirty-five retarded young adults were randomly assigned to a skills-training, coaching, or no-treatment control group. The skills-training and coaching groups met for 12 sessions and 6 follow-up meetings. The skills-training group learned appropriate ways of responding to difficult work-related interpersonal situations. Modeling, coaching, and behavioral rehearsal were the treatment procedures. The coaching group discussed the same interpersonal situations; however, modeling and behavioral rehearsal were not employed. Results indicated that the skills-training group improved their interpersonal skills, social competence, vocational problem behavior, and length of employment. Some positive changes were noted for the coaching group. The results provide support for training interpersonal skills prior to community vocational placement.