Peer Interactions: Same-Age Interactions of Students with Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

With the contemporary call for inclusive education, educators and parents are seeking to provide equal opportunities for students in and outside of the classroom. The students who are ignored are those who are enrolled in “life skills” courses that remove them from mainstream education. In this removal, these students are unable to build peer-relationships with students of their own age. These interactions are not only critical to the well-being of the communities at large, but also the rights and responsibilities to providing all types of students with an opportunity to make social connections with students of their own age. Through personal interviews with parents who have enrolled their children with developmental disabilities in an after-school program to enhance the children’s social skills, this study shows the essential role that same-age interactions play in the lives of students with developmental disabilities.