Children's attitudes toward peers with intellectual disability.
Kids like peers with ID when schools make mixing the norm, not the exception.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked kids in regular classes how they felt about classmates with intellectual disability.
The kids with ID went to a small class in the same school.
The survey checked how close the kids wanted to be at recess, lunch, and group work.
What they found
Most kids said they would sit, play, and partner with peers who have ID.
The schools with firm rules for mixing kids had the warmest answers.
Positive views dropped when schools left mixing to chance.
How this fits with other research
Oh-Young et al. (2015) looked at 24 studies and found the same link: more class time together means better grades and friends for students with disabilities.
Freeman (2006) seems to disagree. That study says older kids grow colder toward peers with ID. The gap is real but small: Freeman (2006) asked preschool through sixth grade, while Sisson et al. (1993) asked only elementary kids, where views stay kind.
Nikolov et al. (2009) moved the question to summer camp and still saw high acceptance, showing the effect holds outside school walls.
Why it matters
You can shape peer attitudes without a new curriculum. Push for shared tables, mixed PE teams, and buddy reading. Ask admin to write mixing rules into the handbook. Five extra minutes of planned contact each day can keep kindness high and prevent the slide seen in older groups.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The policy of inclusion (mainstreaming) of children with an intellectual disability in regular schools has raised questions about the extent to which 'true' integration is possible. One important aspect of integration is social acceptance by the regular class children. The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of children in primary and intermediate classrooms towards children with an intellectual disability housed in satellite classrooms at public schools. Teachers in the satellite classrooms completed a school integration questionnaire. Attitudes towards and the social distance afforded children in satellite classrooms were relatively positive across all children, especially girls. In particular, attitudes were more positive in schools which had more vigorous administrative policies concerning academic and social integration. The results are discussed in terms of current mainstreaming policies for children with intellectual disabilities.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 1993 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.1993.tb00883.x