Dimensions of relationships of students with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

Constant investigations of the ways in which interpersonal relationships are structured has become necessary due to the complexity of interpersonal relationships that we notice in social groups icluding students. The aim of this research is to underline the specific manner that students with intellectual disabilities establish interpersonal relationships .This paper is based on a complex research on 112 preadolescents with intellectual disabilities and 98 teenagers with intellectual disabilities. We used “Choosing Alter’s Test” (focused on revealing the criteria for choosing a friend); “Relations with others” (focused on revealing the criteria underlying the assessment of interpersonal relationships established with an authority), through non-directive interviews.This study advances the idea that the interpersonal relationships that students with intellectual disabilities establish within the school group,  are develop based on the importance/significance attributed to each person with whom they interact, to the roles that each person plays in the students' lives and serve to satisfy their security’ needs and to meet their contextual needs.   Keywords: interpersonal relationships, socialization, relational spaces, social perception process, teenagers and preadolescents with intellectual disabilities;