Changing the attitudes of students towards peers with disabilities

Abstract

A programme to develop more positive attitudes among primary school students towards peers with disabilities was evaluated in two schools; one which included children with disabilities and another which did not. In each school 30 fourth-grade students were randomly allocated to an experimental or control group. The attitude change programme presented to the experimental groups during four social studies periods comprised controlled vicarious contact with peers with disabilities, disability simulations, and success oriented group experiences. The Peer Attitudes Toward the Handicapped Scale was used as the dependent variable measure. This was administered to all students as a pretest, an immediate post-test, and a three months delayed post-test. For both post-tests the experimental groups displayed significantly more positive attitudes on the physical and learning subscales and the total scale. Students in the school which included peers with disabilities generally indicated the more positive attitudes.