Research tells us that children with developmental disabilities and delays have reduced social interaction and reduced social acceptance by other children in comparison with their same-aged peers within early childhood settings. The consequence of this is that these children have limited access to the possible developmental opportunities within the peer culture, leading to long-term social maladjustment. This can be counteracted by the implementation of carefully planned social interventions; however, the strategies informed by current research are often unable to be implemented because of the lack of user-friendliness for staff. This paper is a quantitative and qualitative case study of a four-year-old child with a moderate developmental disability attending a community kindergarten. The authors investigated the effect of strategies planned in collaboration with kindergarten staff to increase social interaction and acceptance for the focal child within the existing peer culture.
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