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The authors surveyed a national random sample of 5,837 middle school students on their attitudes toward the inclusion of peers with intellectual disabilities (ID). The national sample provided results that were accurate, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.4%. Findings indicated that youth (a) have limited contact with students with ID in their classrooms and school; (b) perceive students with ID as moderately impaired rather than mildly impaired; (c) believe that students with ID can participate in nonacademic classes, but not in academic classes; (d) view inclusion as having both positive and negative effects; and (e) do not want to interact socially with a peer with ID, particularly outside school. Structural equation modeling showed that youths' perceptions of the competence of students with ID significantly influence their willingness to interact with these students and their support of inclusion. (Contains 2 figures and 8 tables.)

A study involving 117 children with and without mental retardation in grades 1 through 5 found children with mental retardation had difficulty recognizing benign intention social cues that accompanied a negative event, had difficulty varying their social strategies to fit the social conflict, and often suggested appealing to authority. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

A study examined the ability of 56 children with learning problems and 56 typical children to resolve the social problems of whether to share limited resources with a peer. Only 15% of the dyads of children with learning problems shared, compared to 58% of typical children. (CR)

This study compared the stress, social support, and adjustment of 40 middle school students with learning disabilities or mild mental retardation and 396 general education students without learning problems. The students with learning problems experienced more stress, less peer support, greater adult support, and poorer adjustment, than those without learning problems. Adjustment was related to students' stress in middle school. (Author/DB)

This study of 40 children with learning disabilities or mild cognitive delays and 66 children without disabilities (grades 4-6) examined social networks, social supports, friendships, and adjustment. Results indicated that, compared to nondisabled children, the children with learning problems turned to their family less for problem-solving support and to peers less for all types of support. (Author/CR)

The authors surveyed a national random sample of 5,837 middle school students on their attitudes toward the inclusion of peers with intellectual disabilities (ID). The national sample provided results that were accurate, with a margin of error of [+ or -] 1.4%. Findings indicated that youth (a) have limited contact with students with ID in their classrooms and school; (b) perceive students with ID as moderately impaired rather than mildly impaired; (c) believe that students with ID can participate in nonacademic classes, but not in academic classes; (d) view inclusion as having both positive and negative effects; and (e) do not want to interact socially with a peer with ID, particularly outside school Structural equation modeling showed that youths' perceptions of the competence of students with ID significantly influence their willingness to interact with these students and their support of inclusion., During the past 50 years, numerous studies have focused on the public's attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities (ID). As the move toward educating children in the least restrictive environment [...]

This study compared the stress, social support, and adjustment of 40 students with learning problems due to learning disabilities or mild mental retardation, and 396 general education students without learning problems, in middle school. Examined were: stressors related to academics, peers, and problems with teacher/rules and overall felt stress; social support from family, other adults, and peers; and adjustment, including feelings about self and liking school. The relation between stress, social support, and adjustment also was explored. Results showed that students with learning problems experienced more stress, less peer support, greater adult support, and poorer adjustment, than those without learning problems. Adjustment was related to students' stress in middle school. Interventions for this group of students at risk were discussed., The changes that occur in early adolescence occur within almost every domain of the student's life--physical, social, educational, and familial. Most of these changes are gradual and have different timetables [...]

This study examined the social networks, social supports, friendships, and adjustment of 106 4th-, 5th- and 6th-grade children. Forty children were receiving special education services for learning problems 66 were in general education. Results showed that children with and without learning problems did not differ on the size or composition of their social networks nor on the negative features of their friendships (conflict, competition). However, children with learning problems used their network differently for support. They turned to the family less for problem-solving support and to peers less for all types of support than children without learning problems. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for children with learning problems as they enter adolescence., Over the years, our view of the social world of children with learning problems has been dominated by the negative reactions of others toward the child. For instance, children with [...]

This article examines the concept of mild mental retardation - and the confusion surrounding its etiology, diagnosis, and educational "treatment." The authors conclude that mild mental retardation, unlike more severe forms of mental retardation - or even specific learning disabilities - should be redefined in contextual terms: a person's relative difficulty in responding to cognitive demands of the environment. It is recommended that the term mental retardation be reserved for the more severe forms currently recognized and that a more descriptive term he adopted that focuses attention on this group of children whose unique characteristics and needs have increasingly gone unrecognized and unserved., Throughout the past several decades, educators and researchers have debated the concept of mental retardation (Clausen, 1967; Zigler, 1967), particularly regarding its etiology, prevalence, and viability as a discrete and [...]

We examined two social-cognitive processes, social perception (the encoding and interpretation of social cues) and the generation of social strategies, in 117 children with and without mental retardation (MR) in Grades 1 through 5. Children responded to videotaped vignettes of social conflicts. Children with MR had difficulty recognizing benign intention social cues that accompanied a negative event. When benign intention social cues were present in social conflicts involving peer entry, children with MR resembled younger children without MR in misinterpreting the other child's intentions as "being mean." Children with MR had difficulty varying their social strategies to fit the social conflict and often suggested the strategy of using an appeal to authority. Results suggest that children with MR have difficulty focusing simultaneously on multiple social cues which are incongruent and in selecting appropriate social strategies. Recommendations focus on instructional strategies for improving social perception and strategy generation skills in children with MR., When we consider the nature of successful social adaptation in the general education classroom, we begin to grasp why this remains an elusive goal for many children with mental retardation. [...]

The present study examined the ability of 56 children with learning problems (resulting from mental retardation or mild cognitive delay) and 56 children without learning problems to resolve the social problem of whether to share limited resources with a peer. Children with and without learning problems offered similar strategies for resolving hypothetical limited resources problems, but responded differently to an actual limited resources problem. Only 15% of the dyads of children with learning problems shared the limited resource as opposed to the 58% of children without learning problems. Non-sharers from the two groups differed in their explanations for their behavior. Results suggest the need for intervention efforts to address factors such as goal orientation and emotional arousal that influence whether children with learning problems choose to share in actual limited resources situations., One of most important social skills that children need to learn, beginning at an early age, is sharing with their peers. Yet some children are especially reluctant to share, particularly [...]