Social Relationships and Verbal Interactions of Learning Disabled Children

Abstract

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 child's 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.