Changing attitudes towards disabilities have resulted in corresponding transformations in social justice and human rights issues that have led to an increase in inclusive education practices across the world and a corresponding change in emphasis to address social inclusion of students with disability in the inclusive classroom. Research indicates…

Background: One of the most commonly cited rationales for inclusive education is to enable the development of quality relationships with typically developing peers. Relatively few researchers have examined the features of the range of relationships that children with developmental disability form in inclusive school settings. Method: Interviews…

This paper reports the experiential accounts of 24 young people with physical disability or chronic illness as they make the transition to junior high school, with a particular focus on their social experiences with peers and friends. Children's reports were examined in a reflexive, disability studies framework, in which commonalities and…

Based on theory and research, social aspects like friendship and sense of relatedness are fundamental in the development of children's cultural identity and achievement of outcomes. It is argued that this is a motivational aspect often neglected in research studies focusing on students' motivation and learning. Theory and research on motivation…

A study investigated perceptions of friendships faced by five Australian adolescents with Asperger syndrome. Participants struggled to describe their understanding of friendships, but were better able to describe a number of characteristics of peers who would not be friends. The use of masquerading to cope with social deficits is discussed.…

This study investigated the relation of loneliness in middle childhood to behavioral, sociometric, and attributional measures of social functioning. Data for 128 third- through sixth-graders were collected on three occasions during a 1-year span. Teachers completed a rating scale assessing students' social behavior. Children's peer acceptance was…