“…In a recent study of attitudes toward inclusion in middle school, Siperstein, Parker, Bardon, and Widaman (2007) found that early adolescents without disabilities reported relatively little contact with students with intellectual disabilities either in their classes or in the school; and only 40% or less indicated that they were willing to have social contact with peers with intellectual disabilities outside of the school setting. This finding is consistent with reports from studies conducted in high schools 2 decades earlier which showed that students with intellectual disabilities and students with behavioral disorders (Sabornie, Kauffman, Ellis, Marshall, & Elksnin, 1987) tended to have lower rates of social acceptance as compared to their peers without disabilities, whereas students with learning disabilities were found to be similar in acceptance to their classmates without disabilities (Sabornie & Kauffman, 1986). Further, studies that have examined teacher ratings of the social behavior of adolescents have suggested that many high school students with disabilities may have social competence problems that contribute to their low social acceptance (Cullinan & Sabornie, 2004;Lane, Carter, Pierson, & Glaeser, 2006;Sabornie, Cullinan, Osborne, & Brock, 2005).…”