Self-Care Skills among Children with Special Needs: Concepts, Causes of Weakness, Types, Explanatory Theories, and Methods of Diagnosis and Intervention

Abstract

This study aims to examine self-care skills among individuals with special needs, focusing on their concept, causes of weakness, types, explanatory theories, and possible methods of diagnosis and therapeutic intervention. The importance of this research lies in the fact that self-care skills represent the cornerstone of independence and social integration for this group, whereas their weakness often leads to excessive dependence on others and creates an additional burden on the family and society. The study adopted the descriptive-analytical method, as it is the most appropriate for library-based research, by analyzing relevant literature and previous studies and extracting theoretical results related to the subject. The findings revealed that the weakness of self-care skills among individuals with special needs is associated with intertwined developmental, cognitive, and social factors, and that early intervention and behavioral-cognitive training programs play an effective role in improving these skills. The results also showed that enhancing self-care skills positively affects individuals’ quality of life, reduces family burdens, and promotes better social adaptation and integration.