Development of Self-Care Skills in Primary School Children With Intellectual Disabilities

This study examines how primary-school curricula in Armenia address the development of self-care skills among children with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities. The problem is especially important in the context of inclusive education, where independence, social behavior, spatial orientation, and everyday practical skills influence successful participation and adaptation. A qualitative curriculum-content analysis was conducted for Grades I-IV, focusing primarily on Technology, Physical Education, and Mathematics, while also considering the former Social and Everyday Orientation program for Grades V-IX. The analysis asked whether self-care is represented as a distinct area, how relevant content is distributed across grades and subjects, and whether interdisciplinary links support the consolidation of self-care skills. The findings indicate that Technology contains some directly relevant material, particularly in Grades II-IV, including clothing and footwear hygiene, household sanitation, safety, and food-related skills. Physical Education and Mathematics provide indirect opportunities for developing independence, hygiene, spatial and temporal orientation, and organization; however, these opportunities are not systematically framed as self-care outcomes. Overall, the curricula do not provide a coherent or sufficiently comprehensive pathway for developing self-care skills in primary-school children with intellectual disabilities. The study concludes that a dedicated Self-Care section should be incorporated into the Technology curriculum and supported through explicit interdisciplinary connections.