1 Introduction

Inclusive Education has as a fundamental principle that all individuals should learn together, in regular schools, regardless of difficulties and differences, according to The Salamanca Statement (^{United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 1994}). The movement for educational inclusion is widely debated; public policies, various documents, laws and decrees guarantee Inclusive Education in Brazil (^{Borges & Campos, 2018}; ^{Mazzotta & Souza, 2000}; ^{Roriz, Amorim, & Rosseti-Ferreira, 2005}). In 2018, Decree no. 54, of July 6, was published, which determines principles and rules to guarantee educational inclusion, establishing that each student is entitled to an inclusive education that responds to his/her needs, potentials and expectations, within a common and plural educational project that respects equity, providing a sense of belonging to the acquisition of a level of education.

Educational inclusion can be considered an important resource in the development process of students with intellectual disabilities. The American Association on Mental Retardation (^{AAMR, 2010}) proposes a multidimensional, functional and bioecological conception of intellectual disability, understanding it as a disability characterized by significant limitations in intellectual function and adaptive behavior, which is composed of social and practical skills. The ICD-10 classifies intellectual disability into different subgroups such as: mild mental retardation, moderate mental retardation, severe mental retardation, profound mental retardation, other mental retardation and unspecified mental retardation, based on the measures of the Intelligence Coefficient (IQ), which must be calculated by different instruments (^{World Health Organization [WHO], 2008}). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-V), defines intellectual disability (intellectual development disorder), within the category of neurodevelopmental disorders and proposes that the diagnosis should be made based on three criteria: (1) deficit in intellectual functions, (2) deficit in adaptive functions and (3) adaptive and intellectual deficits, which occurred during the development period (^{American Psychological Association [APA], 2013}).

Within this context, a satisfactory repertoire of social skills is an important resource for the development of individuals with intellectual disabilities and is even characterized as diagnostic criteria (^{Cardozo & Soares, 2011}). Social skills are necessary behaviors for a successful interpersonal relationship, according to typical parameters within a culturally determined context and with a high probability of positive results for the individual, his/her group and the community, contributing to social competence (^{Caballo, 2003}; ^{Del Prette & Del Prette, 2017}; ^{Falcone, 2002}; ^{Murta, 2005}). As for social competence, it is an evaluative construct of the individual’s social performance in an interpersonal task (related to the ability to articulate thoughts, feelings and actions), considering the personal objectives and demands of the situation and culture, generating positive consequences both for the individual and his/her relationship with other people, according to ethical and instrumental criteria (Del Prette & Del Prette, 2017).

Literature has shown that individuals with intellectual disabilities have a low repertoire of social skills (Freitas & ^{Del Prette, 2014}; ^{Garrote, 2017}; ^{Japundza-Milisavljevic, Djuric-Zdravkovic, & Macesic-Petrovic, 2010}; ^{Matson, Mayville, Lott, Bielecki, & Logan, 2003}; Rosni-Pinolla, Del Prette, & Del Prette, 2007; ^{Smith & Matson, 2010}). Children with intellectual disabilities may have cognitive, perceptual, affective and motor impairments that hinder learning and the development of social skills. Cognitive deficiencies and related comorbidities, such as sensorimotor and speech disorders which can affect the child’s ability to discriminate context demands, plan and issue appropriate and expected behaviors for such demands, leading to less competent performances (Del Prette & Del Prette, 2013; Japundza-Milisavljevic, Djuric-Zdravkovic, & Macesic-Petrovic, 2010).

Regarding the differences between boys and girls with intellectual disabilities, with regard to the repertoire of social skills, the studies are not incisive. In relation to children with disabilities attending regular and special education, the study carried out by ^{Bolsoni-Silva, Mariano, Loureiro e Bonaccorsi (2013)} showed significant differences, in which girls were assessed by teachers as more skilled than boys. Literature on children with typical development also points out that, in general, girls are more skilled than boys (^{Bolsoni-Silva & Mariano, 2018}; ^{Bolsoni-Silva, Marturano, Pereira, & Manfrinato, 2006}; ^{Crepaldi, Correia-Zanini, & Marturano, 2017}; ^{Pizato, Marturano, & Fontaine, 2014}).

School inclusion is important for the acquisition of social skills. Socialization in an inclusive environment allows the social skills of students with disabilities to be developed, providing a positive interaction, reducing inappropriate behaviors and improving quality of life (^{Camargo & Bosa, 2009}; ^{Valentini & Toigo, 2005}). In this sense, the school inclusion process benefits students with intellectual disabilities, making it necessary, increasingly, to focus on this area. One of the directions that has been shown to be pertinent are programs for the promotion and development of social skills, which, while not solving the organic problem, can maximize the conditions of socialization and the interpersonal development of people with disabilities (^{Del Prette & Del Prette, 2013}).

The interaction between family and school is another important point in the context of educational inclusion. According to ^{Gonçalves and Murta (2008)}, one of the main factors that contributes to the development of an adequate repertoire of social skills for children is the interaction with educational agents, among which are parents/guardians and teachers; it is essential, therefore, that they have an adequate repertoire of social skills. Among the social skills identified as necessary for educational agents, there are educational social skills, which are defined as those in which, in a formal environment or not, there is an intention to promote development and learning in relation to the other (^{Del Prette & Del Prette, 2008}). Among educational social skills, there are parental educational social skills, that is, the set of behaviors presented by parents/guardians that are applied in their children’s education, minimizing behavior problems and promoting their social skills (^{Bolsoni-Silva & Marturano, 2002}; Bolsoni-Silva, Loureiro, & Marturano, 2016); and the educational social skills of teachers (^{Del Prette & Del Prette, 2008}; ^{Bolsoni-Silva, Loureiro, & Marturano, 2016}).

Parental educational social skills serve as resources to deal with the children, as well as to face the challenges that occur due to the situation of the disability (^{Cardozo & Soares, 2010}). Parents/guardians with an adequate repertoire of parental educational social skills manage to establish a more welcoming and adequate family environment for their children’s development, making them have a more autonomous social performance (^{Bolsoni-Silva, Loureiro, & Marturano, 2018}; Cardozo & Soares, 2011). In addition, skilled parents/guardians organize environments that are more conducive to resilience mechanisms, which will help children in the situations to which they are exposed (^{Del Prette & Del Prette, 2013}).

With regard to the teacher, educational social skills are essential for dealing with everyday school situations and facilitating interactions with students (^{Vila & Del Prette, 2009}). It is a consensus that the promotion of social skills of teachers is of great importance since training teachers in social skills can be a way of contributing significantly to the inclusion of students with disabilities in the educational context (^{Fornazari, Kienen, Vila, Nantes, & Proença, 2014}; ^{Rosin-Pinola, Marturano, Elias, & Del Prette, 2017}).

Given the above, it can be said that studies like this, which propose to characterize social skills, are important because, by focusing on the search for resources, it presents itself as a more optimistic view of development, instead of focusing on needs and cognitive difficulties. This view meets the principles of Inclusive Education, according to which students should be valued and not charged for their difficulties. When evaluating students with intellectual disabilities in terms of social skills and competencies, the way is opened for personal valorization and reduction of social discrimination (^{Pérez-Ramos, Sanchez, Silva, Moreira, & Fornazari, 2004}).

Developing studies with the three links of Inclusive Education - students, teachers and parents/guardians - is another point that is important. The Salamanca Statement, one of the guiding documents for Inclusive Education, states that “a co-operative, supportive partnership between school administrators, teachers and parents should be developed and parents regarded as active partners in decision-making” (UNESCO, 1994, p. 38). To ^{Benitez and Domeniconi (2012)}, works aimed at the intertwining of educational agents, parents/guardians and teachers, constitute a strategy considered promising for the process of educational inclusion, which may favor the teaching of academic skills to students with disabilities. Considering the importance of studying these three links together, understanding the protective context of social skills and the positive relationship with educational inclusion, this study aimed to characterize the social skills of students with intellectual disabilities enrolled in regular schools, as well as to characterize the educational social skills of parents/guardians and teachers. As a specific objective, we sought to verify the existence or not of differences between boys and girls with regard to the repertoire of social skills.

2 Method

This section provides the outline and context of the study, the profile of the participants, the instruments used for data collection, the procedures for data collection and analysis.

3 Results and discussion

Tables 1 and 2 describe the social skills of students, by the assessments of teachers and guardians, showing the mean, standard deviation, median, minimum, maximum and percentage of the score achieved. Comparisons of mean between groups of boys and girls are also described.

Table 1 shows that, in the Total Social Skills, the group presented a percentage of 53.25% of skilled responses. As for the different factors, it is noted that the highest score was the Responsibility factor with a percentage of 57.42%, followed by the Self-control factor, with 54.12%; then by the Cooperation/Affectivity factor with a percentage of 49.33%. The lowest scored factor was the Assertiveness/Social Development factor with 49.30%. There was no significant difference between groups of boys and girls; the d value was average in the Self-control factor. The results indicate that the participants have social skills developed in different subclasses, which can be directly linked to school inclusion and its benefits, corroborating with the literature that emphasizes the importance of inclusion for the acquisition of social skills, minimizing inappropriate behavior and improving quality of life (^{Camargo & Bosa, 2009}; ^{Valentini & Toigo, 2005}).

In some specific factors, the participants had lower scores, did not reach 50%, as in Assertiveness/Social Development and Cooperation/Affection, according to the teachers. In the study carried out by ^{Rosin-Pinola et al. (2007)}, which compared, through the evaluation of teachers, students with intellectual disabilities and their peers without disabilities of high and low academic performance, students with intellectual disabilities differed more in Responsibility, Self-Control, Cooperation, Assertiveness and Self-Defense. The findings of this study converge with those of the authors, in the sense that the participants also presented, according to their teachers, lower scores in Assertiveness and Cooperation.

Regarding the possible differences between boys and girls, in the teachers’ evaluation, those were not found, which differs from the results found by ^{Bolsoni-Silva et al. (2013)}, who presented girls with disabilities as more skilled according to teachers. According to ^{Boyd and Bee (2011)}, when children enter school, they appropriate gender roles. From this perspective, the data found in this study can be considered positive, as we can think that all discussions in recent years about gender already have an assertive impact on the school context.

It is observed, in Table 2, that, according to the evaluation of the guardians, the students presented a percentage of 64.43% of skillful answers. The Civility factor was the one with the highest score, with 82.62%, followed by the Affectivity/Cooperation factor with 68.92%. The factors Responsibility and Social Development are also with 58.25% of the percentage of responses reached. The lowest scored factor was Self-control, with 54.30%. There was a significant difference only in the Responsibility factor, in which the girls obtained a significantly higher result, with a very high effect size. In the Total Social Skills and in the Affectivity/Cooperation factor, the effect size is average. In the Social Resource factor, the effect size is also average.

Regarding the evaluation of guardians for the possible differences between boys and girls, the only difference found was in the Responsibility factor, in favor of girls. Literature has pointed out that girls are more skilled than boys (^{Bolsoni-Silva et al., 2006}; ^{Crepaldi, Correia-Zanini, & Marturano, 2017}; ^{Pizato, Marturano, & Fontaine, 2014}); which can be explained by social and cultural issues, which establish behavioral norms for boys and girls, with girls expected to behave in a more socially accepted manner (Bolsoni-Silva & Mariano, 2018).

It is noted that, in the assessments of guardians, as well as those of the teachers, the participants obtained a total percentage of responses above or close to 50%; thus, these students showed social skills, since there was at least a score of half of most factors and the total scale. Within this perspective, we observed that educators and guardians have collaborated to develop these skills (^{Bolsoni-Silva, Loureiro, & Marturano, 2016}; Bolsoni-Silva, Loureiro, & Marturano, 2018).

Literature has shown that students with intellectual disabilities generally have a repertoire of social skills below expectations when compared to individuals with typical performance (Freitas & ^{Del Prette, 2014}; Rosin-Pinolla, Del Prette, & Del Prette, 2007). However, it is emphasized once again that, in this study, we did not make comparisons of the participants with the reference sample of the instruments (subjects with typical development), since our objective was to characterize the existing resources.

In this study, differences were found between the assessments of the parents/guardians and teachers. In general, students were evaluated more positively by the parents/guardians, considering the percentage of responses. There was also a difference in the evaluation regarding gender: girls were evaluated more positively by the parents/guardians, while teachers did not report any differences. Assessments change according to the context and its requirements (^{Gresham & Elliot, 1990}); thus, it can be inferred that the teachers are more rigorous in view of the context, academic demands and comparison parameters (other students in the class). ^{Bolsoni-Silva et al. (2006)} argue that the most rigorous evaluation of teachers can be given by day-to-day living with children over the years, which lead them to make comparisons through more restrictive normative parameters, which contemplate the rules in force at school.

In the skills of Affectivity/Cooperation and Social Development, students obtained higher scores in the evaluation of the parents/guardians. It can be inferred that, for children with intellectual disabilities, it is easier to manifest these skills in environments that have closer relationships. These results reinforce the importance of an inclusive environment, as these skills can be learned and developed in other contexts, in addition to the family environment, also pointed out by The Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994). According to ^{Fornazari et al. (2014)}, when students learn skillful behaviors in the classroom, it is likely that they will be able to make generalizations in other contexts, meeting the demands of the social environment in a more functional way.

Parents/guardians and teachers, on the other hand, made some similar assessments, as in the factors Responsibility and Self-control. Thus, it can be inferred that these are skills that participants frequently manifest and, in turn, receive more reinforcement, becoming a cycle that feeds itself.

In general, the results found on the students’ social skills repertoire indicate that being in an inclusive environment can contribute to their acquisition and development. An inclusive environment enables significant social relationships for students with disabilities (^{Camargo & Bosa, 2009}; ^{Winnick, 2004}), interaction with peers is important as it provides models of behavior to improve and develop social skills (^{Guaragna, Pick, & Valentini, 2005}) and the learning processes occur basically in the social environment, through educational social interactions (^{Del Prette & Dell Prette, 2003}, 2013; ^{Rosin-Pinola et al., 2017}). Thus, educational inclusion promotes learning opportunities that enable students to gain more space in society (^{Bolsoni-Silva et al., 2013}; ^{Karagiannis, Stainback, & Stainback, 1999}).

This study sought to characterize the repertoire of social skills of students with intellectual disabilities. In this sense, the importance of training in social skills for this population and others with these characteristics becomes clear. Authors argue that the promotion of the social repertoire can contribute to the development of social interaction, coping with low self-esteem and social rejection (^{Park, Loman, & Miller, 2008}); it can improve development and interpersonal relationships, assist in autonomy in different segments of life (^{Cardozo & Soares, 2011}); and favor academic gains (^{Del Prette & Del Prette, 2013}; ^{Elias & Marturano, 2016}; ^{Klejin & Del Prette, 2002}). As a result, specific work with social skills in schools becomes an important resource in the process of educational inclusion.

In addition to checking the social skills of students, we seek to characterize the educational social skills of their educators. Next, we will present and discuss some data found about parents/guardians and teachers consecutively. Table 3 describes the Educational Social Skills and Negative Educational Practices of the parents/guardians in two categories of analysis, diversity and frequency of behaviors. The children’s social skills are also presented, assessed by the parents using another instrument (RE-HSE-P- Interview Script of Parental Social Educational Skills).

The results show that parental educational social skills were classified as clinical in both categories (diversity and frequency of behaviors), signaling that parents/guardians do not have a behavioral variability with regard to social skills and do not have a desirable frequency of these behaviors. These difficulties generate losses in the family relationship between parents and children, which can be justified by the parents’ own difficulties, but also by the difficulties inherent to the disability. According to ^{Bolsoni-Silva and Loureiro (2010)}, parental educational social skills involve the educational practices of communication, expression of feelings and coping and establishment of limits. In the studied population, such behaviors appear to be deficient.

Parental educational social skills influence the intensity and quality of involvement with children with disabilities; parents are seen as role models, so they need to be skilled in solving problems and coping with everyday situations, in addition to being resources for life (^{Cardozo & Soares, 2010}, 2011). Socially skilled parents establish a more welcoming and supportive family environment for protection and resilience mechanisms. However, poorly constructive behaviors and impaired emotional involvement can be detrimental to child development, increasing vulnerability in the face of critical everyday situations (^{Del Prette & Del Prette, 2013}). In addition, the acquisition of children’s social skills is mediated by parents, so they need to have a good repertoire and social performance (Del Prette & Dell Prette, 2014). A good repertoire of social skills of parents is still important in the search for information, services, treatments for children and for the empowerment of families with children with disabilities (^{Aragon, Costa, & Cia, 2019}).

With regard to negative educational practices, these were classified as non-clinical in the two categories frequency and diversity, which indicates that these parents do not use these practices in their children’s education, which is a positive factor. Negative educational practices are coercive behaviors emitted by parents, such as hitting, shouting, threatening, which can lead to behavioral problems, shyness, isolation, aggression and disobedience (^{Bolsoni-Silva & Loureiro, 2010}).

The social skills of the children were again assessed according to the parents, through the RE-HSE-P. The results indicated a clinical classification in both categories (diversity and frequency of behaviors). It is noteworthy that the parents (through self-report) were also classified as clinical in educational social skills, making clear their difficulty in transmitting models of conduct and promoting a socially accepted behavioral repertoire. Literature states that parents in the interaction and education of their children are crucial for the promotion of social competence (^{Bolsoni-Silva & Marturano, 2007}, ²⁰⁰⁸). Data show the need for training/development programs in social skills for students with intellectual disabilities and for their parents and/or guardians.

Below are the results for the teachers. Table 4 shows the Teachers’ Educational Social Skills assessed using the Inventory of Educational Social Skills for teachers - IHS-Prof (mean, median, minimum, maximum and percentile).

Table 4 shows that, according to the percentiles, teachers are above the average of the reference sample on both scales and in almost all factors, with the exception of the Approve, value behaviors Factor (percentile 50). Scale 2 - Conduct Interactive Activity - obtained the highest percentile (75). These teachers obtained a repertoire of educational social skills considered above the reference average; thus, they have social skills considered important in the educational context. These skills involve organizing interactive activity, conducting interactive activity and conducting behaviors (approving, valuing, disapproving, restricting, correcting, among others). The skill evaluated with the lowest repertoire was that of Approving and valuing behaviors; thus, the teachers reported more difficulties in dealing with the students’ behavior, even if it is in the execution of positive reinforcements to these behaviors. This aspect is important, since the teacher, in addition to technical knowledge and mediating the teaching-learning process, must have a satisfactory repertoire of social skills, providing behavioral models and maintaining a pleasant social interaction with students, and the teacher must be able to teach and value positive student behaviors (^{Vila & Del Prette, 2009}).

The skills that the teachers presented are considered important for the school context and can assist in the process of inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities. These are behaviors that can favor students with intellectual disabilities to feel more included in the school environment, awakening well-being and learning. According to ^{Santos and Martins (2015)}, the greatest difficulties encountered in the practice of the teacher with inclusion students refer to the gaps in training on how to deal with deficiencies and differences, the persistence of a clinical view, problems in the school organization and the lack of support networks. Acting in educational inclusion requires that the teacher presents an elaborated repertoire of Educational Social Skills to deal with difficulties inherent to the population, since the adequate repertoire is essential for dealing positively with everyday school situations (^{Vila & Del Prette, 2009}).

Providing continuing education in social skills to teachers of students with disabilities can contribute significantly to the inclusion of these students in the educational context. The teaching of social skills can help the teacher to deal with inappropriate behaviors of the students, contribute to the learning process and the development of teaching methodologies, assisting in the construction of healthy reinforcing relationships with students, which will facilitate the educational process (^{Fornazari et al., 2014}; ^{Vila & Del Prette, 2009}).

5 Conclusions

This study aimed to characterize the social skills of students with intellectual disabilities enrolled in regular schools, as well as to characterize the educational social skills of parents and teachers. As a specific objective, we sought to verify the existence or not of differences between boys and girls with regard to the repertoire of social skills. The results showed that students have resources and difficulties in specific classes, requiring work that helps to promote these skills. Parents/guardians and teachers differed in some aspects in their assessment of children, parents/guardians assessed them more positively, a factor that may be related to the characteristics of the school institution and its demands. There were no differences between boys and girls, with the exception of the Responsibility factor, in which girls had higher scores in the parents’ evaluation. The study also showed that the parents/guardians had a deficient repertoire of parental educational social skills, considered as a clinical one, which can impair their relationship with their children, causing their repertoire to also be classified as clinical. An important point is that parents/guardians, however, do not use negative educational practices in their children’s education. As for the teachers’ Educational Skills, the results showed an above average rating, which can contribute to the relationship with students and the educational inclusion process. However, it is understood that these capacities need to continue being improved, especially with regard to approving and valuing behaviors.

As limitations of the study, the restricted sample stands out, specifically from a single city and from public schools; and the use of a single instrument to assess teachers’ educational social skills, since it is a self-report instrument, and, as evidenced in studies, it can be influenced by high social desirability. It is suggested that future studies may use instruments for direct observation in the classroom.

It is concluded that the results show the importance of working in the educational context of inclusion programs that aim to promote the repertoire of the social skills of parents, teachers and students, which can benefit relationships and assist in the development of more satisfactory repertoires, favoring learning, development and contributing to inclusion. In this sense, this study presents its scientific and social relevance, because, when knowing and describing the social repertoire of the studied population, intervention programs in social skills can be designed not only for study participants but for other students with intellectual disabilities, acting mainly at the points identified as most affected.

Educational inclusion still faces methodological and practical problems. However, there is a consensus in literature that inclusive education helps the development of students with disabilities, especially with regard to the development of social skills. Being in an inclusive environment favors social relationships and contributes to the promotion of the social repertoire. In addition to this, a satisfactory repertoire of social skills of students, teachers and parents/guardians can be an important resource for the successful inclusion of students. It can be noted, thus, how the social skills construction and the inclusive education process are strongly interconnected in a dialectical relationship. This study contributes to the characterization of the repertoire of social skills of students with intellectual disabilities, their parents/guardians and teachers - the three links in the inclusion process, which represents an advance in the field of inclusive education, innovates by working with these three elements and with the construction of social skills towards students with intellectual disabilities.