Perceived social stigma and friendship skills among students with Learning Disabilities

Background/purpose. Friendship skills among people with learning disabilities (LD) are affected by the amount of social skills they possess, which are characterized by their inability to start a conversation, ask a question, and apologize, in addition to behavioral problems associated with attention deficit, social stigma, feelings of inferiority, and lack of self-confidence. The current study aimed to investigate the nature of the relationship between perceived social stigma and friendship among LD students, and the differences between males and females in social stigma and friendship skills.

Materials/methods. The sample consisted of 68 male and female students from an elementary school. The Perceived Social Stigma Scale and Friendship Skills Scale were applied in the study. The results of the study showed a negative correlation between the perceived social stigma and friendship among LD students.

Results. The results also showed statistically significant differences in favor of females in the preserved social stigma and differences between students in favor of males in friendship skills.

Conclusion. The results of numerous previous studies in various cultural and academic settings. The results indicated that male students are better able to confront stigma by engaging in sports or artistic activities. Males also have superior friendship skills to females, although they are more prone to impulsiveness and disregard for norms and rules. They attribute academic failure to external factors that affect their social skills in general and, in particular, their skills in forming and maintaining friendships. We believe that sharing our results with other colleagues will stimulate further research in this area.

Keywords: Social stigma, friendship, peer acceptance, learning disabilities, elementary school

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