Does Volunteering With Children Affect Attitudes Toward Adults With Disabilities? A Prospective Study of Unequal Contact

Objectives: Determine effects of volunteering with children with disabilities on attitudes toward adults with disabilities; examine predictors of social distance. Setting: Pediatric educational–rehabilitation center. Method: Seventy-one adult volunteers completed measures before and after volunteering for 4 to 10 months with children with physical or hearing impairments. Main outcome variables: Questionnaire measures of social distance, self- and other-focused attitudes, thoughts, and affect toward adults with disabilities. Results: Volunteering decreased social distance and had the greatest impact on comfort and ease, regardless of the group with which participants volunteered. There was little change in thoughts and beliefs about people with disabilities. Social distance was best predicted by an other-focused variable: thoughts about the person with a disability. Conclusions: Working with children with disabilities diminished social distance and improved self-focused aspects of attitudes, thoughts, and feelings. This experience generally did not affect other-focused views, which are important for interaction with peers with disabilities. The social and economic inclusion of people with physical and sensory disabilities involves more than architectural or policy considerations. It requires comfortable, effective interaction between individuals with and without disabilities, as equals, in occupational, educational, and recreational contexts. This often fails to take place. Casual interaction between individuals who do not know each