A Comparison between the Effectiveness of Game Therapy and Emotional Intelligence Training on Social Compatibility and Communicative Skills of Exceptional Primary School Hyperactive and Deaf Children

Background In order to enhance social adaptability and communication skills of exceptional children, researchers are trying to find a more effective and reliable approach. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Game Therapy and Emotional Intelligence Education on the social compatibility and communicative skills of hyperactive and deaf children. Materials and Methods The population of this study included all the deaf and hyperactive students of the exceptional elementary school in Sari, Iran, in the school months of June to January 2017. The sample included 50 participants selected through cluster random sampling and divided into 2 experimental and control groups of deaf children each with 10 members and 2 experimental and control groups of hyperactive children each with 15 members. Inactive controls were placed. The instrumentation was Rutter Children's (Teacher's Form) Behavioral Questionnaire, Social Skills Rating by Teachers Scale, Game Therapy Intervention method for 12 sessions, and Emotional Intelligence Training for 8 sessions each lasting 1 hour on all male and female members of both groups. In order to compare the effectiveness, covariance analysis and t-test were administered and analyzed by SPSS version 23.0 software. Results: The findings of this study indicated that 12 sessions of game therapy and 8 sessions of emotional intelligence training significantly affect social compatibility and communicative skills of hyperactive and deaf students (P < 0.05). Conclusion According to the results, the effectiveness of Game Therapy and Emotional Intelligence Training was higher on social compatibility and communicative skills of hyperactive children than the deaf children.