Gotowość do akceptacji rówieśników z niepełnosprawnością intelektualną we wspólnej przestrzeni edukacyjnej

The article presents the results of the analysis of the readiness of peers without disabilities to accept peers with intellectual disabilities in a common learning space. A total of 401 students, attending post-secondary schools, participated in the study. The Integration Readiness Scale was used to collect the research results. It was found that the level of readiness of youths from post-primary schools to function in a shared learning space with peers with reduced intellectual performance can be considered as satisfactory. At the same time, there was a significant variation in the results obtained which depended on the demographic characteristics selected, previous contacts with a person with disabilities at school, and the type of interaction distance to which the consent applied. Unfortunately, as the potential distance decreased so did the readiness to integrate learning with peers experiencing a reduced intellectual performance. In addition, a clearly greater readiness for both direct and indirect interactions (at further distances) was characteristic of girls when compared to boys. Furthermore, it has also turned out that students who had direct contact with peers with intellectual disabilities in their school education are characterised by a lower readiness to integrate, when compared to youths who did not have such contacts. The research results justify the need to better prepare students without disabilities to work together with such peers in the school environment.