Offers educators and families a variety of strategies to help facilitate the development of friendships among students with disabilities and their typical peers. Activities to teach students about individual differences, music and art activities to promote friendships, and sample get-acquainted and class-cohesiveness activities are listed. (CR)

Discusses the chilling effect on learning of bullying and peer harassment, resources and strategies for creating a more respectful school climate, and the need for comprehensive schoolwide policies and procedures that also involve community. Sidebars describe the newly established National Safe Schools Resource Center and various educator guides…

This article describes the phenomenon of loneliness and its incidence in children with disabilities, and suggests techniques for detecting and dealing with loneliness at school. Interventions include social skills training, creating opportunities for social interaction, creating an accepting classroom climate, teaching adequate coping strategies,…

This study, involving 85 workers with and without disabilities, found few differences in coworker relations and interactions. Of nine interaction categories, coworkers without disabilities interacted more among themselves in only one--befriending off the job. Individual workers with disabilities in light industry occupations experienced less…

A step-by-step guide is presented for developing and implementing a social interaction intervention based on a study of an inclusive preschool program. Steps include developing a data collection system, selecting observation time, collecting baseline data, identifying target children, developing social interaction skills intervention, monitoring…

This article presents a discussion of peer relationships, family relationships, and the contexts of junior high and high school as experienced by normally developing adolescents and offers implications in each of these areas for adolescents with language disorders. Case studies of adolescents with language impairments are presented. (Contains…

The self-perceptions of 64 English pupils (ages 8-16) with Down Syndrome were assessed in three school-related domains: academic competence, physical competence, and social acceptance. The pupils held very positive self-perceptions in each domain. Self-perceptions became more positive with age, were more positive for females than males, and were…

Early childhood teachers, the first contacts outside the family for many children, are in a key position to convey knowledge about adoption and model acceptance of it. As teachers educate themselves about adoption issues, they can foster a positive response to family diversity in the classroom by raising awareness, empowering adopted children, and…

Reports a cross-sectional investigation of the behavioral and academic correlates of victimization in Chinese children's peer groups. Structural equation models indicated that peer victimization was associated with poor academic functioning, submissive-withdrawn behavior, aggression, and low levels of assertive-prosocial behavior. Findings suggest…

Used short-term longitudinal design to examine peer relations processes that may mediate relation between peer rejection and kindergartners' emotional and academic adjustment. Structural equation modeling results supported hypothesis that negative peer treatment and classroom participation partially mediated the relationship between rejection and…

Aim: To investigate the relationship between subtypes of self-esteem/self-concept (familial, academic, social, and personal security) and antisocial behavior in adolescents (violent and property offending). Method: A self-report survey was administered in a representative group of 1466 students aged 12 to 18. Results: Both low family acceptance…

In this paper, the author discusses an exercise she uses requiring students to view a popular film that portrays a particular mental disorder or a character with a mental disorder. Students analyze the film and write two papers, one about the sociological model of mental illness and a second about possible links between media images and the…

This study presents a model of maladaptive social interactions that includes both behavioural and communication correlates of peer acceptance and self-perceived social competence. Tested in a sample of 377 Hong Kong secondary school students, verbal and nonverbal aggression contributed concurrently and longitudinally to peer acceptance.…

The present study aimed to analyze differences between aggressive and nonaggressive rejected students in four sets of variables: personal, family, school, and social. Participants in the study were 843 Spanish adolescents ranging in age from 11 to 16 years old, of whom 47% were boys. Results indicated that these two subgroups of rejected students…

In the current study, 466 children completed a peer nomination survey assessing both perceived and sociometric popularity at the end of the 5th grade. Measures of behavior problems were assessed through a composite of peer-, teacher- and self-reports at the end of the 8th grade. Examination of the unique concurrent associations of each popularity…