Social perceptions and communicative interactions of handicapped and normal children in a preschool classroom

Abstract

Ethological observational techniques and a sociometric test were used to investigate the social and communication interactions of five handicapped and four normal children in an open-informal preschool classroom. The observations revealed normal children primarily verbally interacted with normal children and the teacher. In contrast, the handicapped children interacted most frequently with teachers and less frequently with normal of handicapped children. Handicapped children were rarely verbal actors but rather receivers, with most of their communications coming from teachers rather than peers. Most of the positive “play with” and “talk to” sociometric choices obtained from both types of children indicated normal children were most frequently chosen while handicapped children were rejected or neutral. In addition, the less severe the communication handicap, the more apt the child was to be socially accepted. Spacing patterns of the children indicated that the normal children may serve as models who are not interacted with but who are observed by handicapped children.