Nonhandicapped Adolescents Teaching Playground Skills to Their Mentally Retarded Peers: Toward A Less Restrictive Middle School Environment

Nonhandicapped students served as playground tutors for three students in a class for the moderately retarded at a regular middle school. The nonhandicapped volunteers taught age-appropriate playground recreation skills to their retarded peers in an effort to improve the playground behavior of the three retarded students and to facilitate positive interactions between retarded and nonhandicapped students. Results indicated substantial improvement in the percentage of appropriate playground behavior and in the percentage of contact between the retarded and nonhandicapped students. Follow-up probes indicated that, while the percentages of appropriate playground behavior and contact with nonhandicapped peers had decreased, they were considerably higher than during baseline.