Autistic students often experience peer relationship difficulties. As peer acceptance and rejection may be malleable over time, we examined predictors of change in peer acceptance and peer rejection among early elementary-age autistic students. We followed 166 autistic children (mean age: 6.1 years [range: 4-8], 82.5% boys, grades preK-2nd)…

Autistic students often experience peer relationship difficulties. As peer acceptance and rejection may be malleable over time, we examined predictors of change in peer acceptance and peer rejection among early elementary-age autistic students. We followed 166 autistic children (mean age: 6.1 years [range: 4-8], 82.5% boys, grades preK-2nd)…

Objective: To evaluate the benefits of the Fast Track Friendship Group program implemented as a stand-alone school-based intervention on the social cognitions, social behavior, peer and teacher relationships of peer-rejected students. Method: Over four successive years, 224 peer-rejected elementary students (57% White, 17% Black, 20% Latinx, 5%…

Friendship is a developmentally significant relationship in childhood and adolescence that contributes to socioemotional, social-cognitive, and psychological development and well-being. It is a dyadic relationship based on mutual affection, with both friends thinking of each other as friends. Despite this definitional understanding of the dyadic…

Former literature found that various 'different' students experience exclusion and rejection by their peers in schools. This may be linked with the attitudes that their school and classmates hold towards them. Identifying someone as 'Other' may indeed result in prejudicial attitudes which, in turn, can lead to his/her marginalisation and…

The moment a child walks into a new classroom, teachers and classmates form an impression based on minimal information. Yet, little is known about the accuracy of such impressions when it concerns children's social functioning at school. The current study examined the accuracy of children's, teachers' and adults' impressions of 18 unacquainted…

Individual differences in children's social communication have been shown to mediate the relationship between poor vocabulary or grammar and behavioural difficulties. Moreover, there is increasing evidence that social communication skills predict difficulties with peers over and above vocabulary and grammar scores. The essential social…

Education is everyone's right. This right has been emphasized in many national and international legal texts. Based on this fact, it is extremely important to consider the fact that disabled individuals also have equal rights arising from citizenship as a social acceptance and self-esteem principle. In this sense, social acceptance and self-esteem…

This exploratory, phenomenological qualitative study explored how a single, relational micro-intervention focused on respectful conversation across difference might influence sense of belonging and level of curiosity among participating community college students. The study also explored the implications of this intervention for improving campus…

The aim of this study is to investigate how a student with learning disabilities is socially accepted by his peers in the classroom when social skills training and academic support are concomitantly provided. The participants consisted of 15 (7 female, 8 male) typically developing high school students attending Grade 1 and a student with learning…

A latent profile analysis was applied to explore heterogeneity in the social and classroom behaviors of 224 peer-rejected elementary school students (56% White, 68% male, Grades 1-4, M[subscript age] = 8.1 years). Profile indicators included teacher ratings of social skills and problem behaviors on the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) and…

A latent profile analysis was applied to explore heterogeneity in the social and classroom behaviors of 224 peer-rejected elementary school students (56% White, 68% male, Grades 1-4, M age = 8.1 years). Profile indicators included teacher ratings of social skills and problem behaviors on the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) and peer…

Previous studies suggested that university students who are not able to accept themselves tend to develop negative tendency to compare themselves with each other. This study aimed to investigate the role of unconditional self-acceptance (USA) in explaining the association between mattering and social comparison among Malaysian undergraduate…

Autism spectrum disorder is common among disability. Difficulties experienced by the child with autism in developmental areas may cause negative situations during transition to preschool. This study aims to determine the opinions of parents and teachers about expectations and whether these expectations have been fulfilled during transition to…

The researchers investigate how learners with barriers to learning experience the transition to classes for learners with special educational needs. The research was conducted at a full-service school in Potchefstroom, North West province, South Africa. Interviews were conducted with current and former teachers as well as the parents of selected…