Associations Between Japanese Children's Information Sources and Attitudes Toward Peers with Physical Disabilities or Sensory Impairments

Children's attitudes are shaped by the information to which they are exposed. To foster improved peer relationships in inclusive settings, there is a need for typically developing children to exhibit positive attitudes toward peers with disabilities. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between children's attitudes toward their peers with disabilities and the available information about disabilities. Furthermore, through this study, we sought to report the process of developing a Japanese version of the Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes Towards Children with Handicaps Scale (CATCH-J). The participants were 215 children in fourth through sixth grades who attended an elementary school that does not provide special education services. A questionnaire containing the CATCH-J and other pertinent information was administered to the participants. Three sources of information about disabilities were investigated: conversations; school lessons; and media including books, television, or the internet. After removing some items, the CATCH-J demonstrated good validity and reliability. Participants who obtained information about disabilities through conversations showed more positive attitudes than those who did not. Meanwhile, there were no significant differences between those who obtained information from school lessons or media and those who did not. The findings imply that typically developing children's participation in academic lessons or exposure to television programs or internet content is not sufficient to foster positive attitudes toward peers with disabilities. Talking about disabilities with family could be the first step in this direction.