SOCIAL /NTERACTlONS OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: A FUNCTlONAL APPROACH

Abstract

The stategy presented in this study integrates sociometry and behavioral information to evaluate the stability or change of the social behavior of children with special needs. This work compares proximal and contextual factors that explain the patterns of interaction of children with and without special needs.

We analyze the implementation of this strategy with respect to the social behavior of elementary school children of different grades. The participants were 15 children considered as children with special needs, ea eh one matched with another child without special needs. Target children displayed less social interactions, a lower academic persistence, a lower number of social episodes, and a higher frequency of leisure episodes than comparison children. Functional indices of social effectiveness and responsivenesss helped to elucidate the mechanisms that control the children's behavior patterns. We discuss the stability of the children's social network and its function with respect to adaptation difficulties in integrated classrooms.