Award Date

1-1-2004

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Special Education

First Committee Member

Kyle Higgins

Number of Pages

193

Abstract

Many young children with disabilities are being educated in inclusive preschool settings. Social competence for these children is often less than that of their peers and the typical children in the inclusive setting usually are not aware of appropriate methods for interacting with children with disabilities. Research concerning effective methods to increase the social interactions between children with and without disabilities is needed to ensure successful educational experiences for children with and without disabilities in these settings; This study investigated the difference between the use of a single social interaction strategy and the use of a combined social interaction strategy for preschool children with and without disabilities in an inclusive setting. The study compared triads of children with and without disabilities who participated in either a single intervention condition or a combined intervention condition. Play sessions were videotaped for the purpose of analyzing the social interaction behaviors of the children. Pre- and post-measures of the children's social skills and observation of social interactions during the play sessions in the study were analyzed using statistical tests. The frequencies of the social interactions of the children with and without disabilities in the two groups were compared and the social interaction behaviors of the children with disabilities in the two groups were compared; In this study the teachers perceived that the children with and without disabilities improved in the use of four social skills (e.g., joining in, waiting your turn, sharing, asking someone to play) across the phases, although there was no significant difference between the intervention groups. The children with and without disabilities demonstrated an increase in the frequency of social interaction behaviors, although there was no significant difference between the intervention groups. The children with disabilities demonstrated an increase in effective social behaviors and a decrease in ineffective social behaviors across phases of the study, although there was no significant difference between the intervention groups. All of the children in the study exhibited few negative social behaviors during the play sessions of the study.

Keywords

Children; Combined; Comparison; Inclusive; Increases; Interaction; Interventions; Preschool; Preschool Children; Social Interactions

Controlled Subject

Special education; Early childhood education

File Format

pdf

File Size

6871.04 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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