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Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Gepubliceerd in:

01-03-2014 | Original Paper

Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Intervention Program to Influence Attitudes of Students Towards Peers with Disabilities

Auteurs: Anke de Boer, Sip Jan Pijl, Alexander Minnaert, Wendy Post

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | Uitgave 3/2014

Abstract

In this study we examine the effectiveness of an intervention program to influence attitudes of elementary school students towards peers with intellectual, physical and severe physical and intellectual disabilities. A quasi-experimental longitudinal study was designed with an experimental group and a control group, both comprising two rural schools. An intervention program was developed for kindergarten (n _experimental = 22, n _control = 31) and elementary school students without disabilities (n _experimental = 91, n _control = 127) (age range 4–12 years old). This intervention consisted of a 3 weeks education project comprising six lessons about disabilities. The Acceptance Scale for Kindergarten-revised and the Attitude Survey to Inclusive Education were used to measure attitudes at three moments: prior to the start of the intervention, after the intervention and 1 year later. The outcomes of the multilevel analysis showed positive, immediate effects on attitudes of kindergarten students, but limited effects on elementary school students’ attitudes.

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It is very common two grades are combined into one class due to the small number of students in rural districts of the Netherlands.

Because the schools preferred a school-wide intervention, we implemented the intervention in all grades, including first grade. However, due to the young age of these students we did not assessed their attitudes.

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Titel: Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Intervention Program to Influence Attitudes of Students Towards Peers with Disabilities
Auteurs: Anke de Boer
Sip Jan Pijl
Alexander Minnaert
Wendy Post
Publicatiedatum: 01-03-2014
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders / Uitgave 3/2014
Print ISSN: 0162-3257
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-3432
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-013-1908-6

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