Loneliness among children with special needs

Loneliness Among Children With Special Needs is a groundbreaking volume that examines this vitally important but heretofore neglected topic. Based on the shared view, from both clinical experience and research, that children with disabilities experience more loneliness than nondisabled children, the author integrates the existing knowledge and research in order to provide both an ecological model for the examination of social stress and coping and an understanding of the loneliness experiences of children with learning disabilities, behavior disorders, mild mental retardation, and emotional difficulties. The book is divided into five sections. The first attempts to clarify the characteristics of the lonely child, followed by a section with chapters devoted to environments and interpersonal relations. The third section is concerned with the subtyping of loneliness and adjustment, and the fourth section discusses the outcomes of loneliness through coping and interventions. The final section provides a summary of the research using the proposed loneliness model for empowering children with disabilities. This volume is essential reading for all researchers, clinicians, educators, and students who work with children with special needs and who, as the author states in the Preface, "see the importance of companionship for promoting growth of children with special needs and the costs of loneliness for current life and future adjustment."