Perspectives of social status of learning handicapped and nonhandicapped students

The social status of mildly learning handicapped and nonhandicapped students and their own perceptions of and their ideal preference for social status were investigated. In study 1 the social-status perspectives of handicapped vs. nonhandicapped students in a regular-class environment into which the mildly learning handicapped students had been mainstreamed was compared. Results indicated that the mildly handicapped children overestimated their social status in the direction of their ideal. In Study 2 the social-status perspectives of the same mildly learning handicapped students in two classroom settings were compared. Although these children overestimated their social status in the regular-class setting, their estimates and ideals were accurate in their special-class settings. Implications for intervention were discussed.