Project Special Friend, a reverse mainstreaming program in which elementary school volunteers worked with severely retarded students, is described. After one year the program was found to have increased the social awareness of the retarded students and given the volunteers a much better understanding of their handicapped peers' problems and…

Presents a response to Gifford-Smith and Brownell's "Childhood Peer Relationships: Social Acceptance, Friendships, and Peer Networks" (this issue). Focuses on the interaction of context, children's social skillfulness, and the type of peer relationship targeted as central elements in conceptualizing effective interventions. (Contains 12…

Evaluated contributions of mothers' social coaching and responsive style to preschoolers' interpersonal competence with peers. Found that coaching and style were largely independent and were correlated with social competence; both predicted teacher ratings, and style predicted peer acceptance. Found no evidence for mediation effect of coaching,…

A study examined the effects of social setting on the friendship formation of 333 preschool children (120 with disabilities) enrolled in inclusive early childhood programs. Typical children in specialized classrooms had significantly more friends. In child care settings, however, there were no statistically significant differences in number of…

Examines school-level differences in the relations between school belonging and various outcomes. Results indicated that belonging was lower in urban schools than in suburban schools. Whereas individual students' perceptions of belonging were inversely related to depression, social rejection, and school problems, aggregated belonging was related…

Five adolescents with visual impairments participated in trust engendering activities in five separate peer focus groups. At the completion of the intervention, four of the students with visual impairments showed marked improvement in their social acceptance and had higher scores on the Social Skills Assessment Tool for Children with Visual…

The verbal and nonverbal behaviors of five children (ages seven and eight) with specific language impairments wishing to gain access into established social interactions were evaluated. Although comparative children without language impairments had no difficulty, three of the subjects were unable to gain access at all and the other two did so…

This study investigated the perceived loneliness, social competence, and social status of 15 sixth-grade students with learning disabilities (LD). Comparison with 68 peers without disabilities found students with LD reported more loneliness, were less popular, and more controversial in their social status than non-disabled peers. Implications for…

Three children with autism from a self-contained elementary special education class participated in daily free-play sessions with 15 nondisabled peers, who were sequentially individually trained in appropriate interaction skills. Generalized interactions between students with autism and nontrained peers began in all three groups after the…

Children who are consistently ignored or disliked, especially those who make no friends at all, often have trouble succeeding in school. This article illustrates the scenario of a child who is just learning to play with others, but continues to face rejection from her classmates. The author provides tips for both teachers and parents that can…

The aims of the present study were to investigate the role for problematic children of the child's social competence, teacher relations and behaviour with peers for later problem persistence, school performance and peer acceptance, in terms of moderating (protective and exacerbating) and independent effects. Groups of children with externalizing…

The presentation covers assessment and intervention of social interaction skills with emotionally disturbed children. Noting the importance of social interaction skills and yet the neglect of such skills in the literature, the paper advocates a systematic instructional approach to improve the social acceptability of emotionally disturbed children.…

Two studies investigated effects of programs in which handicapped students tutored regular class students. In study 1, 39 fourth to sixth grade learning and behaviorally handicapped students tutored regular class first graders in reading. In study 2, 17 intellectually handicapped students tutored regular class peers in sign language. Comparing…

The social, emotional, and physical benefits of physical education activities for mainstreamed students with special needs are discussed. Success or failure in physical activity is a sensitive issue which affects attitude. The mainstreamed child must gain a sense of belonging without experiencing failure. Suggestions for structuring a program are…

A high school vocational education course for mentally retarded students implemented an intervention program designed to promote appropriate job-related social behavior by developing students' social and conversational skills. The "coffee break" program phases (reminders, content suggestions, reinforcement, and questioning) resulted in…