Interactions of High School Students With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Inclusive Classrooms

As inclusive opportunities increase for students with disabilities, additional research is needed to examine high school students' classroom interactions. This descriptive study explores the nature of the social interactions of 10 high school students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in the general education classroom. Findings from our observations indicated that students with IDD interacted with peers during approximately one out of every four minutes and interacted with the general educator during one out of every 10 minutes, less than their peer comparisons' interactions with peers and teachers. Students with IDD were present (M = 89.9%) and in proximity to peers (M = 71.7%) during the majority of the class period. We discuss additional results along with practical implications, limitations, and future research directions.