engleski

Acceptance of children with special needs among peers

Numerous researches review adverse position of children with special needs among peers (Žic & Igrić, 2001 ; Žic, 2002 ; Guralnick & Groom, 1987), that motivate plenty of activities to improve acceptance of those children, such as general information about children with special needs, early integration, education of teachers and parents, workshops with peers (Kemp & Carter, 2002 ; Cutts & Sigafoos, 2001 ; Stančić 2002 ; Stančić 2004). It is interesting to find out actual situation with emphasis on connection between level of acceptance and type of pupils’ difficulties. The aim of this research was to find out some determinants of sociometric position of pupils with special needs in regular school. Gender, type of difficulties, and level of parents’ education had been correlated with level of acceptance by peers measured by sitting, studying together and accompanying. The sample consists of children with special needs (N110) and peers (N110) of both genders, who attend 6th grade of regular primary school. The sample of children with special needs consist of children with intellectual disabilities, ADHD, specific learning difficulties, and difficulties in reading and writing. The results show that children with special needs are statistical significantly less accepted than their peers according to sociometric criterions. Correlation analyses show statistically significant connection between sitting, studying together, accompanying and each type of difficulty. Children who have any of mentioned difficulties have more adverse position on sociometry. It is emphasised that there are no statistically significant differences in acceptance between children with different type of difficulties. The results also show that there are no differences in acceptance between boys and girls and no correlation between level of parents’ education and level of pupils’ with special needs acceptance. The results of this research show that there are no changes according to previous investigations and that more intensive inclusion activity are necessary.

children with special needs; peers; acceptance; regular school

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