Contact and attitudes toward community inclusion of individuals with developmental disabilities

It has only been since the 1990's that the Americans with Disabilities Act granted individuals with disabilities equal opportunities to services and access to the community. However, it is a common belief that the community still holds a negative attitude toward developmentally disabled persons, which makes it difficult for disabled persons to achieve their goals and experience their membership in the community. The question this study intended to answer was which types of contact with people with developmental disabilities have the strongest relationship with positive and negative attitudes. This study surveyed 106 individuals in the community, some of who are working in the field of developmental disabilities, while others represented the general population. To measure contact and attitudes the researcher included in the survey the Contact with Disabled Persons Scale and the Community Living Attitudes Scale. The findings showed significant negative relationships between the amounts of positive interaction participants had with developmentally disabled persons and their attitude toward exclusion. Pleasant contact also had a significant positive correlation with degree of perceived similarity with developmentally disabled persons in the staff member sample. In both samples, significant relationships were revealed between age and attitude. In the community member sample, there was a significant positive correlation with age and attitude toward sheltering and a significant negative correlation with age and perceived similarity. In the staff member sample, there was a significant negative correlation between age and attitude toward empowerment. These findings suggest that pleasant contact with developmentally disabled persons is associated with positive attitudes toward them. This may be evidence for support of programs that foster positive interactions between community members and persons with developmental disabilities.