A comparison of students with learning disabilities to low achieving and higher achieving students on three dimensions of social competence

Research continues to accumulate attesting to the fact that many children with learning disabilities are experiencing social difficulties in school. Nonetheless, it is also clear that achievement deficits, with or without the presence of a handicapping condition, are also related to social problems in the classroom. Several studies attempting to clarify the relative roles of handicapping condition and achievement in social adjustment have produced mixed results. The purpose of the present study was to clarify this issue further by examining the social differences between elementary school students with learning disabilities and other low achieving and higher achieving children on three social dimensions: sociometric status, behavior as rated by teachers, and self-ratings of social competence. The results indicated that the children with learning disabilities may be a higher risk socially than their low achieving and higher achieving peers. Variables that may account for these results are discussed as well as directions for future research.