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  • “Not Sure How to Approach T...
    Rossetti, Zach

    Remedial and special education, 01/2024
    Journal Article

    Friendships are personally valuable and developmentally important relationships for all people, yet friendships between students with and without intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD) remain infrequent, even in inclusive settings. Extant research indicates that opportunity barriers may play a more prominent role in friendship development than the social skills of students with I/DD. Furthermore, friendships are reciprocal and mutual relationships involving two or more people. Thus, I situated this study within the social context for friendship rather than focusing only on the skills—and presumed deficits—of students with I/DD. As peers without disabilities are an integral part of that social context, I examined nondisabled students’ perspectives on friendship via four focus group interviews with 44 first to eleventh graders. Thematic findings indicated that students with I/DD were not viewed as potential friends and that students with and without I/DD had few opportunities to interact authentically.