Relations between classroom context, physical disability and preschool children's inclusion decisions

Understanding typically developing children's decisions about including classmates with disabilities in play activities is critical to understanding the development of social relationships between children with disabilities and typically developing peers. We examined children's ideas about, and explanations for, inclusion as a function of play setting (e.g., outdoor play vs. drawing) and a child's physical disability. Children responded to multiple sources of information, including information about the activity and about the skills required to play, in making inclusion decisions. They were more likely to select a hypothetical peer with a physical disability when the disability interfered minimally with participation in the activity. Moreover, children were more likely to refer to issues of sharing and enjoyment to explain their inclusion of a child with a physical disability and to issues associated with ability to explain selection of a typically developing child. Results suggest that attending to issues of equity and fairness and providing appropriate adaptations that allow all children to participate may be valuable strategies for supporting interactions among young children with a range of different abilities in the same preschool classroom.