Views from the Mainstream: Learning Disabled Students as Perceived by Regular Education Classroom Teachers and by Non-Learning Disabled Secondary Students

Abstract

In the context of a program for mainstreaming learning disabled students, this study compared the perceptions of learning disabled students held by non-learning disabled secondary students. Significant differences were found between the two groups for 15 of the 30 items on the questionnaire. For 14 of these 15 items, student responses were significantly more positive than those of the teachers. Overall, when the responses of the two groups were compared, teachers were much more likely to rate the learning disabled students as underachieving, uninterested, non-studious, not striving for success, ashamed, and lacking in self-confidence. By contrast, students rated their learning disabled peers negatively on only two items, those dealing with self-confidence and popularity.