Acceptance of Learning Disabled Students in the Mainstream Environment: A Failure to Replicate

The sociometric status of primary and upper elementary students was investigated. The locale was a suburban area where those children classified as learning disabled were mainstreamed in two elementary schools. There were 362 children participating in the study, 8% of whom were learning disabled. The data do not support the findings of previous studies on the sociometric status of handicapped children in the regular classroom; i.e., learning disabled children would rate significantly lower in terms of popularity than their peers who are not learning disabled peers. A discussion of the reasons for better acceptance of the handicapped in mainstream education is included.