Effects of Theme-Based Garden Book Making in Capstone Design on Self-Determination and Social Skills of College Students with Developmental Disabilities

Background and objective: This study was conducted to examine the effects of the theme-based garden book (photo book) making integration program on social skills and self-determination of college students with developmental disabilities. Methods: We analyzed the changes in social skills and self-determination of college students with developmental disabilities. The first step was defining the theme-based garden book (photo book) making integration program, which was done by focus group interviews (FGI) comprised of specialists in the industry and academia. The second step was carrying out 8 sessions of the program. The third step was examining the effects of the program on social skills and self-determination of college students with developmental disabilities. The participants of this study were 36 college students with developmental disabilities attending N University, and 17 students were in the experiment group and the other 19 in the control group. Results: The control group showed no statistically significant changes in the three sub-domains of social skills, while the experimental group showed statistically significant differences across all three sub-domains, such as cooperation(P < .05), assertion(P < .05), and self-control(P < .05). The experimental group, that participated in the program showed statistically significant differences across all four sub-domains of self-determination skills, such as behavior (P < .05), cognition(P < .05), school support(P < .05) and home support(P < .05). This proved that the theme-based garden book (photo book) making program contributed to bringing positive effects to self-determination and social skills. Conclusion: These results suggest that the theme-based garden book (photo book) making integration program could improve self-determination and social skills of college students with developmental disabilities. These positive changes are related to the high level of interest in theme-based garden design programs among college students with developmental disabilities, and thus these programs can be used effectively to improve social adjustment.