Relationship between intellectual abilities and pragmatic skills in school age children with mild intellectual disability

Pragmatic language is a term used to describe utilization of language within a social context. Although persons with intellectual disability can develop pragmatic competence, it does not surpass the expectations based on mental age, due to the fact that many pragmatic skills rely on previous cognitive demands. The objective of this research is to determine the relationship between intellectual abilities, based on the IQ, and pragmatic skills of school age children with mild intellectual disability. The sample consisted of 120 pupils of the same gender, attending schools for children with intellectual disabilities, aged between 8 and 16, and equal in the presence of bilingualism. The Scale for Assessment of Pragmatic Competence in Children with Mild Mental Retardation was used for evaluating pragmatic aspects of communication, while the information on students’ intellectual abilities was obtained from school psychologists. According to the obtained results, differences in intellectual abilities should be considered as an important, but not decisive factor in explaining the differences in pragmatic competence of school age children with mild intellectual disability