Date Approved

5-20-2002

Embargo Period

5-16-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in Special Education

Department

Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education

College

College of Education

Advisor

Xin, Joy F.

Subject(s)

Children with mental disabilities--Education (Elementary); Social skills--Study and teaching

Disciplines

Special Education and Teaching

Abstract

The current study examined the effects of social skills training and social integration in play activities to facilitate the social competence and peer acceptance of students with multiple disabilities mainstreamed for non-academic subjects. Ten 3rd and 5th grade students with disabilities and 60 non-disabled 3rd graders participated in this study. The target students spent more than 65% of their day in a self-contained classroom and were included for non-academic activities such as homeroom, lunch and recess, and related arts.

A multidimensional approach to social skills instruction was provided to students with disabilities in their self-contained classroom. The students with disabilities participated in structured group activities in their respective homerooms with non-disabled peers while their special education teacher directed all of the activities. A baseline condition and an intervention condition were utilized to evaluate the changes in subjects over time. Pre and post peer rating scales were completed by all of the students. Baseline data were collected using direct observations for three days. The training was implemented on the social skills of sharing, playing, and initiating conversation through 30-minute sessions, followed by structured group activities for 20 minutes. Direct observations were conducted again to collect data of this intervention. Results indicated that although the social skills training increased the social competence of the students with disabilities as evidenced by an increase of the targeted skills, an analysis reported no significant increase in the peer ratings of students with disabilities. However, there was a significant difference between the acceptance of students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers.

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