What Children Report and Remember: A Six-Year Follow-Up of the Effects of Social Contact between Peers with and without Severe Disabilities

Abstract

Various models and strategies to promote meaningful social interactions between children with and without severe disabilities have been reported in the special education literature. The reported outcomes associated with these efforts include positive effects on children's attitudes toward disabilities, social competence, and social values (e.g., fairness and community caring). This is an investigation of what teenagers report and remember as a function of elementary school experiences involving different levels of social contact with peers with severe disabilities. Two self-report interpersonal measures were administered to 183 students without disabilities comprising social contact, exposure, and control groups. A subsample of 93 teenagers was interviewed about experiences and attitudes toward persons with disabilities and their memories from earlier school experiences. Analysis of the attitudinal data revealed significantly more positive attitudes, higher levels of current reported social contact, and more support for full community participation as a function of earlier social contact—although all children were relatively positive. The self-concept measure also revealed differences between subgroups of children as a function of gender and condition. The interview data with children in the high social contact group offer caveats for future inclusion efforts to avoid potential negative effects upon children's personal relationships and social attitudes. Suggestions are made for future research to investigate the impact of inclusion on children's socio-personal development and social relationships.