The willingness to accept a person with disability in a peer group and distance/tolerance attitudes in adolescents with low vision

Abstract

The research was conducted on a group of 100 partially sighted students attending special schools and 120 students of the general schools. Students with low vision assigned to the primary group were attending special schools in Lublin, Warszawa and Krakow. The students from the comparative group were attending general schools in Lublin, Lubartow and Kamionka. The conducted research was based on the Tolerance and Distance Scale (SDT – Kirenko, Olejnik) and the Bogardus social distance scale. The conducted research showed, that the presented attitude of distance and tolerance of partially sighted and able-bodied youth was correlated with the level of willingness towards the acceptance in a peer group. Either group showed the highest willingness towards the acceptance of a person with minimal disability, i.e. partially sighted or hard of hearing. Students’ approach was further determined by the presented attitude of distance and tolerance. The participants presented the lowest willingness towards the acceptance in a peer group of a person with social maladjustment, which was not dependent on their general attitude.