Sociometric Status of Learning Disabled Children in an Integrative Program

Abstract

The sociometric standing of primary-aged learning disabled students was investigated. The setting was a sparsely populated rural area where learning disabled children were mainstrearned in an elementary school in which an "open concept" delivery of services system was in operation. The "special child" stigma was therefore assumed to be significantly reduced. The data support the findings of previous studies on handicapped and normal children; i.e..significant differences were found between the learning disabled and normal control groups on both the positive and negative questions. Further analysis revealed that the learning disabled girls were less likely to be positively chosen and more likely to be rejected than the learning disabled boys. A discussion of possible reasons for such differences is included.

Recognition, Expression, and Understanding Facial Expressions of Emotion in Adolescents With Nonverbal and General Learning Disabilities

“…Studies have consistently demonstrated that students with LD have lower peer status compared to their non-Ieaming disabled (NLD) peers (Bruininks, 1978;Bryan, 1974Bryan, , 1976Scranton & Ryckman, 1979;Silver & Young, 1985;Siperstein, Bopp, & Bak, 1978;Wiener, 1987). In addition, teachers tend to perceive these students as less socially competent and to have poorer peer relations than NLD peers (Bender & Smith, 1990;Haager & Vaughn, 1995).…”

“…However, the importance of examining the social functioning of students with LD has gained increasing recognition in the field (Hutchinson, Freeman, & Berg, 2004;Wong & Donahue, 2002). Many studies have consistently demonstrated that students with LD have lower peer status as compared to theirNLD peers (Bruininks, 1978;Bryan, 1974Bryan, , 1976Conderman, 1995;Scranton & Ryckman, 1979;Silver & Young, 1985;Siperstein, Bopp, & Bak, 1978;Wiener, 1987) and to be more rejected by their classmates (Stanovich, Jordan, & Perot, 1998;Stone & LaGreca, 1990;Wiener, Harris, & Shirer, 1990).…”

“…In the area of LD, studies have consistently demonstrated students with LD to have lower peer status (Bruininks, 1978;Bryan, 1974Bryan, , 1976Conderman, 1995;Scranton & Ryckman, 1979;Silver & Young, 1985;Siperstein et al, 1978;Wiener, 1987), to exhibit poorer social skills (Hutchinson, et al, 2004;Kavale & Fomess, 1996;Swanson & Malone, 1992) and to be perceived by their teachers as being less socially competent than NLD peers (Bender & Smith, 1990;Haager & Vaughn, 1995). To explain the lower social status of children and adolescents with LD researchers have hypothesized that their difficulties in recognizing a variety of nonverbal cues (i.e., face, body, hands, head) may play a role.…”

Research on Social Integration: What Are The Problems?

“…On the negative side, several studies reported that children with disabilities were more likely to be rejected and less likely to be accepted by their nondisabled peers (Bruinicks, 1978;Bryan, 1974Bryan, , 1976Scranton & Ryckman, 1979;Siperstein, Bopp, & Bak, 1978). Jenkins et al (1985) reported no significant differences in the social interaction of children with disabilities in integrated and segregated classes, while the existence of a deficit in peer-related social interactions for these children was reported by Guralnick and Groom (1987).…”

Attitudes and learning disabilities: A literature review for school psychologists

“…Recent investigations have shown that learning disabled students are also rejected by peers (Bruininks, 1978;Bryan, 1974bBryan, , 1976Scranton & Ryckman, 1979), although their status may be tempered by whether or not they possess other prized attributes such as attractiveness and athletic ability (Siperstein, Bopp, & Bak, 1978).…”