An Investigation of Social Acceptance Levels of Students with Typical Development toward Their Peers with Special Needs in terms of Certain Variables

Year 2022, Volume: 6 Issue: 2, 470 - 492, 31.12.2022

M.abdulbaki Karaca Hasan H. Toprak

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the level of social acceptance of students with typical development in inclusive classes towards individuals with special needs in terms of certain variables. In this study, the screening model was used, which is one of the quantitative research methods. The reason for choosing the screening model in the research is to determine the relationship between different variables such as gender, parents' education level, and whether there is a person with disability in the student's immediate environment and the level of social acceptance. In the 2019-2020 academic year, 1083 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade students in inclusive classes in public secondary schools in Türkiye participated in the study. The Social Acceptance Scale was used in the study. The statistical package was used to analyze the data. The results of the study revealed that there was a significant difference in social acceptance levels of students with typical development towards their peers with special needs (p˂0.001) according to the variables as gender, father's education level, grade level, Having a person with disability among relatives, previous attendance to kindergarten and nursery in the past, family status. However, it was found out that there was no statistically significant difference between the mother’s level of education of the students with typical development and their social acceptance levels towards their peers with special needs.

Keywords

Social acceptance, inclusive education, peer attitude, typically developing student

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