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Abstract

The present study solicited opinions of and experiences in the public school system from handicapped students who had successfully matriculated into a university program. Their opinions and experiences were found to differ significantly from those of special education majors and nonmajors, the latter group having had no training in special education. Furthermore, the two groups of nonhandicapped students (special education undergraduate majors and undergraduate nonmajors) were unable to predict the opinions and experiences of the handicapped students, and the special education majors were no more successful at doing this than the nonmajors. In particular, the nonhandicapped students consistently overestimated the limitations and perceptions of special needs of the handicapped students by continually viewing them as more disabled than the handicapped students viewed themselves. When asked to rank the value of various aspects of educational programming for young handicapped children, the nonhandicapped students emphasized the development of a special curriculum for handicapped children to accentuate strengths, while the handicapped students rated assessment procedures and training of public school teachers as their highest priorities. The results of the investigation suggest that handicapped students are different from their nonhandicapped counterparts in terms of their opinions and experiences and that their views should be carefully considered by those working in educational programs for handicapped populations.

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Handicapped University Students' Views of Educational Programs as Compared With Those of Majors and Nonmajors

Abstract

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