پذيرش دانش آموزان داراي اختلالات شنيداري توسط همسالان در مدارس تلفيقي (عادي )

Peer acceptance of students W hearing disorders in inclusive and non-inclusive schools

Introduction: This study investigated the level of hearing disorder childrenʹs acceptance by their peers in inclusive and non-inclusive schools in the city of Tehran. Materials & Methods: The sample in this study was 323 elementary school students in grades 3-5 from the schools in different regions of Tehran. These students were studying alongside their peers with mild hearing disability. Also for comparison this study used a sample of 65 students from non-inclusive (regular) schools. Level of acceptance was measured through the use of Acceptance Scale developed by Voeltz(1980). The major questions in this study were based on the impact of the factors of gender and the type of school attended by students (inclusive or non-inclusive). Findings: The results indicated that in inclusive schools, boyʹs level of acceptance was higher than that of the girls. Also a significantly lower level of acceptance was found in regular school students as compared with that found in inclusive schools. Conclusion: This finding led the investigators to conclude that the experience of inclusive education can leadto higher level ofregular studentsʹ acceptance towards special need students. Suggestions for future research are given in light of limitations of present study The need for further understanding of the factors contributing to student acceptance in inclusive settings is emphasized.