Social Inclusion—The Next Step: User-Friendly Strategies to Promote Social Interaction and Peer Acceptance of Children with Disabilities

Abstract

Research tells us that children with developmental disabilities and delays have reduced social interaction and reduced social acceptance by other children in comparison with their same-aged peers within early childhood settings. The consequence of this is that these children have limited access to the possible developmental opportunities within the peer culture, leading to long-term social maladjustment. This can be counteracted by the implementation of carefully planned social interventions; however, the strategies informed by current research are often unable to be implemented because of the lack of user-friendliness for staff. This paper is a quantitative and qualitative case study of a four-year-old child with a moderate developmental disability attending a community kindergarten. The authors investigated the effect of strategies planned in collaboration with kindergarten staff to increase social interaction and acceptance for the focal child within the existing peer culture.