Tanis Bryan

Peer Popularity of Learning Disabled Children

The purpose of this study was to determine the peer popularity of children classified as learning disabled. The method employed was to administer a sociometric technique to 62 third, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms in which there was at least one learning disabled child. An analysis of variance was computed for votes received on scales of social attraction and social rejection by learning disabled and comparison children matched on variables of sex, race, and classroom. The results indicate that learning disabled children, particularly white and female, were significantly less attractive and more rejected than comparison children.

Peer Popularity of Learning Disabled Children A Replication

The purpose of this study was to determine the peer popularity of learning disabled children who had participated in a sociometric study one year earlier. A sociometric technique was administered to 20 fourth and fifth grade classrooms in which there were 25 learning disabled children from the original study. An analysis of variance was computed for votes received on scales of Social Attraction and Social Rejection by learning disabled children and comparison children matched on variables of sex, race, and classroom. The results indicate that learning disabled children receive a greater number of votes than comparison children on Social Rejection and fewer votes on Social Attraction. The results indicate that there is reliability in childrens friendship and rejection ratings across time and across classrooms.

Learning Disabled Children's Comprehension of Nonverbal Communication

A problem shared by many learning disabled youngsters which confounds their academic difficulties is adequate social adjustment. Frequently, inadequate social adjustment among the learning disabled is conceived of as derived from their academic failure, mediated by lowered self-confidence. Various psychodynamic and social-psychological explanations for this phenomenon are widely known. In this article, Bryan poses an alternative, that the learning disabled child may be less sensitive to social cues and, hence, may be more apt to misinterpret them, the result being inappropriate, maladaptive social behavior. While confirmation of this hypothesis in no way disproves the fact that some children may show inappropriate social behavior for other reasons, the demonstration that some learning disabled children do have less accurate social perceptions has distinctive remedial implications which Bryan discusses. — G.M.S.

Learning Disabled Children's Attributions for Success and Failure.

These studies examined underachieving and control childrens beliefs about the causes of their successes and failures. In Study 1, third- through eighth-grade children were administered a scale measuring locus of control in achievement situations. Results indicated that underachieving children had weaker feelings of internal control over success than the control children. In Study 2, first- through eighth-grade children rated the importance of ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck for success and failure in reading, on puzzles, and in social situations. The childrens ratings indicated that underachievers believed lack of effort played less of a role in their failures than did control children. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the achievement behavior of learning disabled children.

Social Relationships and Verbal Interactions of Learning Disabled Children

Despite federal regulations which define LD children strictly in terms of intellect and achievement, sensitive observers recognize the social and emotional complications these children face. With increased mainstreaming, the LD childs social skills will be severely tested. Our ability to recognize the nonacademic aspects of LD should provide each child with a more understanding and supportive environment. The series of studies Bryan reviews challenges some stereotypes of the LD child and provides alternative views for teachers and researchers. All readers must recognize that the findings may not represent all LD children, nor does Bryan suggest such. Rather, this work provides an empirical touchstone against which to understand individual pupils and to accomplish increasingly refined experimental work. — G.M.S. A series of research studies is described which investigated the sociometric status, social behavior, and social relationship of learning disabled children in classroom observations and laboratory studies. The results indicate that a significant number of learning disabled children are experiencing difficulty in eliciting positive responses from others and in establishing friendships with peers. It is suggested that social relationships be considered an academic area worthy of the development of interventions strategies to train social skills.

Social Interactions of Learning Disabled Children

Efforts to mainstream learning disabled children may require educators to consider social adjustment variables as much as academic factors in remedial programing. As in their previous work, Bryan and Bryan found learning disabled children to be less popular than their peers. This study delineates the behavioral basis of attitudinal rejection of learning disabled children by their classmates. The verbal communication habits of learning disabled children are found to be a major factor in their social rejection. Learning disabled children emit and receive more rejection statements than nondisabled classmates.

Learning Disabled Children's Peer Interactions during a Small-Group Problem-Solving Task.

Learning disabled children in grades three through eight participated in a problem-solving task requiring group decision making. An analysis of group choices indicated that the independently made choices of learning disabled children were less likely to be among the groups final choices. Analyses of the childrens communication patterns revealed that learning disabled children were less likely to disagree with classmates, less likely to try to argue for their choices, and more likely to agree with their peers. In addition, learning disabled children were found to be less likely to engage in “conversational housekeeping” than nondisabled children. Hence, learning disabled children were less persuasive than nondisabled children, apparently as a result of their assuming a submissive, deferential role when interacting with small groups of peers.

The Social-Emotional Side of Learning Disabilities: A Science-Based Presentation of the State of the Art:

For over 30 years, researchers have studied the social-emotional side of learning disabilities (LD). This article highlights the science-based research on three domains of social skills of children with LD: characteristics, interventions, and the impact of policy. The article concludes with concerns regarding the translation of research on social-emotional factors into practice and the likelihood that social-emotional problems are being adequately addressed in public schools.

Learning Disabled Children's Conversational Skills--The "TV Talk Show.".

This study examined the conversational competence of learning disabled children when placed in a dominant social position. Learning disabled and nondisabled children were videotaped as they played the role of a talk show host interviewing a nondisabled child. The conversational strategies of the learning disabled and nondisabled children were analyzed for discourse and turn-taking behaviors. The results indicated that although the learning disabled children were cooperative conversational partners, their strategies for initiating and sustaining the interaction differed from those of nondisabled children. Learning disabled children asked fewer questions and were less likely to produce open-ended questions than nondisabled children. In turn, their conversational partners were less likely to provide elaborative responses to their questions. The results are discussed in terms of current hypotheses about learning disabled childrens linguistic deficits and their difficulties in establishing positive peer relations.

Examining the Research Base of the Regular Education Initiative Efficacy Studies and the Adaptive Learning Environments Model

Two bodies of research used to support the Regular Education Initiative are (a) the literature on the efficacy of special education and (b) studies examining the Adaptive Learning Environments Model (ALEM), a program for educating handicapped children in regular education classrooms that is often cited as an example of effective practice. The support provided by these lines of research, however, is minimal. The efficacy literature contains many limitations in terms of methodology, the age of the studies, and an emphasis on physical placements instead of practices within the placements; even if these limitations are overlooked, the results of the efficacy studies do not totally favor regular education over special education for mildly handicapped students. The ALEM studies provide insufficient information on program and subject characteristics and contain a variety of methodological limitations that call into question their conclusions. Though these limitations in the research supporting the Regular Education Initiative do not prove that special education is effective, we believe a variety of regular and special education service configurations for mildly handicapped students should still be available.