Parents of children with disabilities must maintain a fine balance between protecting their child from thoughtless cruelty and discrimination and teaching their child to deal with such actions. Parents should quickly end any cruel actions toward the child, be open about the disability's nature, and talk to parents of the child's peers. (CB)

This article describes a high school club for students with and without disabilities that was established to promote constructive social relationships through an after-school club format and to develop students' self-confidence, social acceptance, and peer interaction opportunities. The membership, meetings, officers, and activities of the club…

The final report describes the results of the first year of a 3-year project investigating the effects of using handicapped students as tutors. Detailed descriptions are provided of two main experiments in which learning disabled and intellectually handicapped students tutored students from the regular classroom in sign language and reading. Both…

Fourth graders (n=69) were assigned to science learning conditions on a stratified random basis controlling for handicap, sex, and age. Results indicate that continued use of cooperative learning contingencies promote positive growth in interpersonal attraction, social acceptability, and self-esteem between handicapped and nonhandicapped students.

Well-being was assessed in 568 low-achieving Dutch students (ages 7-15) by means of a self-image scale consisting of 39 statements and peer acceptance through sociometric nomination and rank-order procedures. Students in special education had a slightly better self-image and were more accepted by peers than low-achieving students in regular…

The second year of a 2-year study on the benefits of using handicapped students to tutor nonhandicapped peers focused on the effects of having all students in a special class tutor simultaneously (the total class tutoring method). Forty intellectually handicapped students (IQs ranging from 50 to 75) tutored 60 nonhandicapped agemates in basic sign…

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,…

Camps for children with serious diseases or disabilities are becoming more common. These camps provide children and their families with ongoing support systems and allow children to interact with peers who accept them for who they are while having fun. Counselors with similar conditions make good role models. Camps sponsored by four national…

This report discusses the outcomes of a study that examined four factors (academics, peer relationships, personal security, and family acceptance) as they related to the self-esteem of students with and without disabilities. The instrument used to measure these factors was the adapted Self-Esteem Inventory containing 58 questions. The survey was…