Abstract
The present quantitative study sought to explore the teachers' perceptions and attitudes towards the reality of employing Peer Education Strategy (henceforth referred to as 'PES') to develop the adaptive behavior skills (henceforth referred to as 'ABS') of their students labeled with mild intellectual disabilities (henceforth referred to as 'MID'). Judging from the quantitative nature of the current study which stems from the descriptive sense of its research problem and its relevant issues being addressed, hence the researcher utilized a quantitative data gathering method, i.e., a self-administered questionnaire. Moreover, the sample of the study consisted of (80) teachers (both males and females) who are enrolled in special education teaching positions at the Department of Education in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Based on the statistical analysis performed on the collected data, represented by responses obtained from the research participants, the following findings were drawn: Firstly, a high level PES's employment on the aforesaid ground was demonstrated by the participants under study. Secondly, it was found that there is a causal relationship between employing the strategy at issue and the development of the ABS of the students within the MID category. This also includes developing the three sub-skills that are relevantly associated with the ABS, namely: the social skills, the academic skills, and the daily life skills, which were incorporated into the questionnaire's items as three independent dimensions that are inseparably linked with the general notion of 'adaptive behavior skills'. Thirdly, with reference to the current study's variables which consisted of: 1) the dependent variable, namely 'the employment of PES in developing adaptive behavior skills for students with MID' and 2) the independent variables, namely 'gender', 'educational qualification', 'years of experience', 'educational institution', and 'PES's training courses', the findings revealed an existence of a variety of relationships, particularly causal relationships, between the study's IVs and DV, and in varying proportions. Finally, appertaining to the scope for further research, the researchers proposed several suggestions and recommendations to other scholars for future studies.