Sociometric Status and Related Personality Characteristics of Mainstreamed Learning Disabled Adolescents

Abstract

Learning disabled adolescents rated each other, and were rated by nondisabled classmates and teachers within special education and lower track mainstreamed classes. Results demonstrated that, while disabled subjects were generally less well liked than their peers, a subgroup of the disabled sample was very well regarded. Additionally, most of the remaining disabled subjects were rated in the neutral, rather than the disliked range. Behavioral differences between disabled and nondisabled, and popular versus unpopular disabled subjects were also examined. Comparisons of ratings by teachers in mainstreamed and special education classes revealed that special education teachers tended to view disabled students as less socially, but more academically competent than did teachers in mainstreamed classrooms. Additional areas related to social adaptation, such as ratio of disabled to nondisabled students in a class and social decoding ability, were also examined and discussed.