Israeli children's attitudes toward children with and without disabilities

Using a multidimensional perspective, we examined and compared kindergarten children's attitudes toward children with a physical disability, a hearing impairment, or no disability. Attitude scales, based on picture cards, were administered face-to-face to 106 kindergarten children in Israel. Each reported their attitudes toward each of three target children. More positive attitudes were reported toward a child without a disability as compared with a child with a physical disability or a child with a hearing impairment. More negative cognitions were reported toward the child with a hearing impairment compared with the child with a physical disability. Furthermore, moderate correlations were found between the three attitude components. The findings call for the provision of knowledge regarding disabilities, especially those disabilities that are less clearly understood by young children, as well as opportunities for contact between children with and without disabilities.