“A considerable body of research suggests that, although children are sometimes rejected by peers for non- behavioural reasons such as physical stigmata, behaviour plays a substantial, if not overriding, role.” (p466) (Parker, et al, 2006) Peer attitudes to Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (SEBD) March 2011 Rachel Dubsky

“Aggressive behaviours appear to place children at highest risk for peer rejection when they occur along with a broad pattern of emotionally reactive, disruptive, and unskilled behaviour” (p466) (Parker, et al, 2006) SEBD’s are the least accepted disability; largely because students with these behaviours are perceived as being a problem, rather than having a problem. (Heary, C. & Hennessey, E. 2005)

ADHD and ASD Acting out vs acting in Gender Mitigating ‘popularity qualifiers ’

Research questions: 1.How do mainstream year 7 students feel about being in classes with peers exhibiting SEBD’s? 2.What do these same mainstream students believe is the cause of SEBDs in their peers, and what do they think should be done about their SEBD behaviours, by whom. 3.Do these same mainstream students’ attitudes to their peers with SEBDs become more accommodating after they are given information about what it is like to experience ADHD and Aspergers first hand, and encouraged to think creatively and co-operatively about improving these experiences?

Meet the vignette peers: Kim Jake Jenny Tom Kerry and Charlie

Meet the vignette peers: Kim Jake Jenny Tom Kerry and Charlie Who do you think the majority of year 7 students would most prefer NOT to be in a class with?

Accepted (most to least)Rejected (least to most) Charlie (1)Kerry (3) - ASD Jenny (2)Kim (4) Jake (5) - ADHD Tom (6) Most happyLeast happy No impact/ harmDangerous/ physical threat/ hurt me Nice/normal/averageDisruptive

How happy students felt about being in a class with the vignette peers: Neutral

If we break down the term 3 response into test and control groups, we find that in each instance the attitude of the test group was more positive towards the vignette peers than that of the control group, although for Jake, both group’s happiness at association had decreased. Term 1Term 3Term 3 testTerm 3 control Charlie Jenny Kerry Kim Jake Tom

Student comments about Jake: Comments from term three: studenthappinessfitT/C 1531C "He doesn't because he should go to a school like {Local SEBD school}." "Send him to a naughty school where they will treat him bad but not too bad." 1921C "When other people are working hard the teacher does not notice the hard worker and only notices the bad behaving boy." 9211T "he causes other kids pain and causes trouble to get attention." "He could have ADHD... Put him in a special behaviour school." 14822T "He isn't very happy." 3112C "He might fit in with kids that think being stupid is cool, so he has his 'silly moods' more often." 14733T "He isn't trying to be bad he just wants attention." 10023T "He doesn't do it all the time but when he does it's distracting for other children...ADHD." 12823T "People pretend to be his friend so he does stuff for them." 2624C "Give him some more fun and interactive thing to do… not everybody has the patience to sit and to work all the time." 8624T "He might just have a problem with that but he could be good at something else."

Where students specifically stated they felt Jake had ADHD... "He might have a problem (ADHD)." "He might have 1 or 2 friends but not many." (ADHD) "he causes other kids pain and causes trouble to get attention." "He could have ADHD... Put him in a special behaviour school." "He doesn't do it all the time but when he does it's distracting for other children...ADHD." "he just needs support." "probably people hate him a lot... Has got ADHD." "because he stops people learning." "He has ADHD... Give him a support teacher." Even though the seven respondents who stated a belief that Jake had ADHD were more personally accepting overall, they actually had a lower perception of his fit than the average respondent and two of the seven suggested some form of exclusion.

Student comments about Kerry: Comments from term three: studenthappinessfitT/C 15661T "Everybody teases her... I could tease her too." 1631C "sounds like a freak." 8221C "Put her in a class where everyone is not normal." 11711T "she has different interests and is different to everyone else." 4932C "She could have farming friends but townies would think her weird." 17922T "She wouldn't have any mates, so why come to school." 3122C "She might have friends that want her for her 'work answers' so she tags along with them but really she does not like them." 1422C "She needs to calm down and needs to improve her social skills." 4233C "She's only a girl and that's her hobby… she gets angry yes, but she's a girl." 14734T "She works but she can't take a joke." 12223T "It's not cool to talk about pig farming."

What should be done about Jake and Kerry ? Exclude / send to special school Isolate Time out / Change class Involve parents / Head Correct 'X' / discipline / Stop them Monitor Nothing / back off / do not react Change teaching approach Correct others Talk & ask / Help / extra support / new skills Encourage / boost confidence / praise / reward I don't know (By teacher or other adults)

Jake

Kerry

References: Heary, C. and Hennessy, E. (2005) ‘Developmental changes in children’s understanding of psychological problems: a qualitative study’, Presentation at the Annual Conference of the Psychological Society of Ireland, Galway, November Parker, J., Rubin, K., Erath, S., Wojslawowicz, J. and Buskirk, A. (2006) ‘Peer Relationships, Child Development, and Adjustment: A Developmental Psychopathology Perspective’ in Cicchetti, D. and Cohen, D. (Eds) Developmental Pyschopathology: Theory and Method, New Jersey: John Wiley. Accessible at lab.umd.edu/pubs/Downloadable%20pdfs/kenneth_rubin/peers%20interactions%20and%20relationships/Peer%20Relationships,%20Chil d%20Development,%20and%20Adjustment.pdf lab.umd.edu/pubs/Downloadable%20pdfs/kenneth_rubin/peers%20interactions%20and%20relationships/Peer%20Relationships,%20Chil d%20Development,%20and%20Adjustment.pdf Visser, J. and Dubsky, R. (2009) 'Peer attitudes to SEBD in a secondary mainstream school', Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 14: 4, 315 — 324 Recommended: Bierman, K. (2006) Peer Rejection: Developmental processes and intervention strategies. New York and London: The Guilford Press. Cigman, R. (Ed) (2007). Included or Excluded? The challenge of the mainstream for some SEN children, London and New York: Routledge. Humphrey, N. and Lewis, S. (2008) ‘”Make me Normal”: The views and experiences of pupils on the Autistic Spectrum in Mainstream Secondary Schools.’ Autism. 12(23). Kalambouka, A., Farrell, P., Dyson, A. and Kaplan, I. (2007) ‘The impact of placing pupils with special educational needs in mainstream schools on the achievement of their peers’, Educational Research, 49(4) p.365 – 382