title: Social interactions of high school students with mental retardation and their general education peers.
abstract: The informal social interaction behavior that is typical of a high school lunchroom in which general and special education students are physically included was described. Using systematic observation and social comparison methods, we compared the performance of two groups of students (12 general education students and 12 students with mental retardation). Both similarities and differences were found in the interactions of students with mental retardation and their general education peers with respect to social behaviors, conversational topics, and context within which interactions occurred. However, despite being in proximity, students with mental retardation rarely interacted with any of approximately 500 general education students present in the lunchroom. Implications are discussed for increasing social interaction among high school students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Education, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203, USA. carolyn.hughes@vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Rodi
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lorden
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Pitkin
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Derer
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D004495:Education of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D007360:Intelligence; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012929:Psychological Distance; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012931:Social Environment