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Peer Acceptance Among People with Disabilities

Peer acceptance entails the extent to which a child or an adolescent is socially and emotionally accepted by fellow peers. For a child to develop properly within the social and emotional domains, peer acceptance is a factor needed to enable an easy initiation in a social environment that is satisfactory to child. It is needed by every child both the disabled children and the able. Peer acceptance among the disabled could be seen in the same line as to those of the able-bodied children. Childhood stages of a child with disabilities and an able-bodied child are similar. This relationship formed through peer acceptance tend to provide a wide range of learning and development opportunities like, companionship, recreation, building social skills, participating in group problem solving, and managing competition and conflict. They also allow for self-exploration, emotional growth, and moral and ethical development. Factors such as physical attractiveness, cultural traits, social competence and disabilities greatly affect the level of peer acceptance.

Importance of peer acceptance
It helps in self confidence building

The ability to interact more, learn social and technical are modified.

They perform better in inter group activities and competitions when they feel they are accepted than when they are not.

It helps improve group activities and competitions when they know they are more accepted rather than when they are not. *-

DEALING WITH PEER ACCEPTANCE AS A DISABLED
· Though it’s best that feelings of isolation be conquered during childhood, adults with disabilities can take steps to come out of their shell by seeking acceptance and companionship means that an individual must work past the fear of rejection, or the feelings of inadequacy. In other woeds, for one to be accepted, a person must first accept him or herself.

·  Equally important to obtaining inclusion and acceptance by peers is to be mindful of the other person’s uneasiness and hesitation. While a person with a disability has fears of not being accepted, they don’t seem to know that the other person has fears also, fears like; Should I approach the person? What do I say? What if they are non-verbal, how do I communicate? What if I hurt their feelings? What if I say something insensitive? What if I hurt them? What can they do? What can’t they do? These questions usually go unanswered, clearly from the fear of not knowing what to ask or how to say it. So in other to bridge this gap in communication and friendship building, a self-assured adult with a disability might simply ask, “I see you are researching trains and planes. Two topics I love. Do you mind if I join you?”  and if the person looks apprehensive, be prepared to explain “I talk through this computer, and it might take me longer, but I’m just like you.”

· Being assertive and self confident – people shouldn’t wait for someone to ask if they will partake in activities. People get surprised at how often people say “no, please do” when asked, “Do you mind if I join you?” It also means that a person may have to cope with rejection, which means they must be willing to say to themselves, “Okay, it didn’t work out this time, but it doesn’t mean I won’t get a yes the next time. And, it certainly doesn’t mean I’m less of a person because that person rejected me.”

Empirical Research
Pijl, Sip Jan and Frostad, carried out a study that addresses the relationship between the acceptance of students with disabilities by their peers and their self-concept. This research shows that level of acceptance and self-concept are moderately related. Students with disabilities not accepted by their peers in regular classrooms thus run the risk of developing low self-concept. It is assumed that this does not apply to students with moderate to severe learning disabilities (LD), because they are less able to understand fully their level of acceptance by typical peers. Therefore, they do not experience negative feelings linked to an eventual isolated position and are less likely to develop a low self-concept.

References

Donald L. MacMillan, Frank M. Gresham and Steven R. Forness (1996)Behavioral Disorders Vol. 21, No. 2 (February, pp. 145-159 (15 pages)

Frank M. Gresham & Daniel J. Reschly (1986). Social Skill Deficits and Low Peer Acceptance of Mainstreamed Learning Disabled Children

Pijl, Sip Jan, & Frostad(2010). European Journal of Special Needs Education, v25 n1 p93-105

Vaughn, S., Hogan, A., Kouzekanani, K., & Shapiro, S. (1990). Peer acceptance, self-perceptions, and social skills of learning disabled students prior to identification. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(1), 101–106. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.82.1.101