A comparison of the social competence of children with moderate intellectual disability in inclusive versus segregated school settings.
Inclusive and segregated schools give kids with moderate ID the same social skill levels, so choose placement based on what the child does, not where the child sits.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Hardiman et al. (2009) watched kids with moderate intellectual disability in two school types.
One group learned in regular classrooms with typical peers. The other group learned in separate special classes.
The team used rating scales to see if either group looked more socially skilled.
What they found
Both groups scored the same on every social skill measure.
Inclusive placement did not raise or lower social competence.
Setting type, by itself, made no clear difference.
How this fits with other research
Oh-Young et al. (2015) pooled 24 studies and say integrated settings win. Their big picture seems to clash with the null result here. The gap is real: one study is a single snapshot, the other averages many.
Dessemontet et al. (2012) used the same design and also found almost no social gains, only a tiny reading edge. Their match supports the null finding and shows academics can budge while social skills stay flat.
Duvdevany (2002) tested adults with ID in mixed versus separate recreation and saw small self-concept gains. Recreation is friendlier turf than school, hinting that setting effects may hinge on activity type, not just location.
Why it matters
Stop assuming inclusion automatically fixes social problems. Use quick probes to see if the child actually talks, shares, or plays in either setting. Pick the place where useful social behavior already happens, then add teaching and peer supports.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This is the first study to compare the social competence of children with moderate intellectual disability in inclusive versus segregated school settings in the Republic of Ireland. A convenience sample was recruited through two large ID services. The sample comprised 45 children across two groups: Group 1 (n=20; inclusive school) and Group 2 (n=25; segregated school). Parents and teachers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Adaptive Behaviour Scale-School: 2nd edition. A series of 2 x 2 ANOVAs were carried out on social competence scores using educational placement type (inclusive vs segregated school) and proxy rater (parent vs teacher) as the independent variables. Key findings indicated that children in inclusive schools did not differ significantly from children in segregated schools on the majority of proxy ratings of social competence. This supports the belief that children with intellectual disabilities can function well in different educational settings. Present findings highlight the importance of utilising the functional model of ID when selecting and designing school placements for children with moderate ID.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2009 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2008.07.006