PRESCHOOL CHILDRENS CONCEPTIONS OF DISABILITIES - THE SALIENCE OF DISABILITY IN CHILDRENS IDEAS ABOUT OTHERS

This research investigates the was in which preschool children concept ualize different disabilities. Subjects sere 36 children, 3 to 6 years of age, enrolled in inclusive preschool programs. Children were inter viewed to learn their ideas about physical and sensory disabilities an d Down syndrome, and to assess the salience of disability in their res ponses to photographs of unfamiliar children. Results revealed that mu st children were aware of physical disability, half of thr children we re aware of sensory disabilities, and no children expressed an a aware ness of Down syndrome. Children were sensitive to thr effects of a phy sical disability on a child's motor performance, but were less aware o f the consequences oi other disabilities. These results have important implications for understanding typically developing children's reacti ons to, and ideas about,their classmates with disabilities in inclusiv e settings.