Social and Nonsocial Determinants of Acceptability in

Various social and nonsocial behaviors of 72 severely handicapped preschool children were assessed. One-half of these children were judged to be more highly rated sociometrically (by normal peers) than their handicapped counterparts. While clear social behavior differences emerged between more and less accepted children, equally powerful differences were noted in certain nonsocial skills and attributes: physical attractiveness, toy play skill, level of disruption in class, and athletic skill. In fact, social and nonsocial variables were found to contribute equally important information for predicting sociometric status. The last several years have witnessed a growing interest in the purposeful development of young handicapped children's social skills. Curricula have been developed, specific intervention strategies tested, and entire service delivery systems developed to facilitate social skills (see Odom & Strain, in press, for a thorough review)