Learning disabilities and social competence: a social ecological perspective

To explore the relationship between learning disabilities (LD) and social competence, various indexes of social and academic competence were collected from a sample of students with LD, as well as a matched sample of children without disabilities, in Grades 3-6. Measures included academic grades, teacher perceptions, peer perceptions, self-perceptions, social network outside of school, and direct observation of social interactions. Results suggest that children with LD differ from children without disabilities on virtually all indexes of academic competence, regardless of social status. In the social domain, children with LD had higher self-concept scores than did children without disabilities. Most social differences were linked to the child's peer status, independent of disability.