The voices of Japanese and U.S. elementary-school aged children with disabilities: Navigating stigmatization within peer groups

Abstract

Children’s experience of disability-related stigmatization is a central social justice issue across cultures. Yet children’s voices are rarely heard by policy makers, and available programs for children with disabilities typically lack input from children’s own experiences. This paper presents a cross-cultural case study of how three children with disabilities in Japan and the U.S. responded to stigmatization from their “typically-developing” peers. We choose these cases for in-depth examination to contextualize and deepen our understanding of themes identified from our larger, ethnographic study. Similar to the participants in our larger study, these elementary school-aged children experienced disability-related stigmatization, including teasing and bullying. They actively responded to reduce their immediate exposure to stigmatization. Some of these responses, however, created additional challenges. For example, children’s physical fighting in response to teasing resulted in punitive discipline in the U.S. Children’s avoidance of peers undermined academic achievement and psychosocial development, especially in Japan where peer groups are central contexts for education. Furthermore, children’s responses to stigmatization often concealed their peer struggles or were misunderstood by educators, which delayed their access to appropriate support. We discuss social work implications for child-centered programs of support.

Keywords

Children’s voices disability stigmatization Japan United States

Introduction

This cross-cultural case study provides an in-depth analysis of diverse ways in which elementary school-aged children with disabilities respond to stigmatization in the U.S. and Japan. Social workers encounter children with disabilities from diverse cultural communities in a wide range of educational, mental and physical health, and policy settings. Our premise is that understanding children’s experiences of disability and stigmatization as shaped within specific sociocultural and educational contexts is foundational to the design of child-centered, culturally affirming, stigma-sensitive policies and programs.

Children with mild cognitive and behavioral disabilities

We focus on children with mild cognitive and behavioral disabilities. These disabilities include specific learning disabilities (e.g., dyslexia); Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD); high-functioning autism spectrum disorders; and certain speech, emotional, and behavioral disorders. In the U.S., these disorders are considered “high incidence” disabilities, comprising approximately 80% of children receiving special education services (NCES, 2021a).

Children with mild cognitive and behavioral disabilities can be particularly vulnerable to stigmatization as they spend most of their school days in general education classrooms (National Center for Educational Statistics NCES, 2021b). Stigmatization negatively objectifies individuals with “socially undesired differences,” including disabilities, and discredits them in the larger society (Goffman, 1963) through labeling, stereotyping, social exclusion, status loss, discrimination, and expressions of negative emotion (Link and Phelan, 2001; Yang et al., 2007).

Children with mild cognitive and behavioral disabilities also are important cases for understanding the cultural shaping of disability and stigmatization because they are at the border of “typically-developing” and “disabled.” In many contexts, these children are typically developing. Without appropriate support, however, they often struggle academically and/or behaviorally (Sato, 2008). Although individually tailored specialized services support children’s development (Wanzek et al., 2018), stigmatization associated with disabilities and special education can undermine it (Mortier et al., 2011). How this “dilemma of difference” (Minow, 1990) is addressed, however, varies across cultural contexts (e.g., Kayama et al., 2020).

Challenges to inclusive education

International inclusive education movements, such as the Salamanca statement (UNESCO, 1994) and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (United Nations, 2006), have expanded the access of children with disabilities to public schools. Several challenges, however, remain. First, inclusive education can expose children with disabilities to increased stigmatization from typically developing peers. Specialized services to support the academic and social development of children with disabilities, for example, can highlight their differences from peers in general education settings, which can lead to social exclusion, teasing, and bullying (e.g., Mortier et al., 2011).

Second, frameworks for inclusive education are fundamentally based on a western concept of individual rights (Shyman, 2015). In non-western contexts, educators report significant challenges in implementing rights-based inclusive education policies (e.g., Kayama et al., 2020; Yoo and Palley, 2014). In Japan, where peer groups are central contexts for children’s overall development and academic learning (Ministry of Education, 2017), children with disabilities who do not meet normative expectations can be particularly vulnerable to stigmatization. Yet existing research on disability and stigmatization in schools largely focuses on western contexts, which limits our perspectives on the role of stigmatization in children’s development. Narratives of Japanese and U.S. children with disabilities who are socialized within distinct education systems exemplify processes of sociocultural-historical shaping of disability and stigmatization experienced by children and suggest how adults can better support them.

Third, programs for children with disabilities frequently lack input from children’s own experiences, including of stigmatization, and their voices are rarely heard by policy makers (Clark, 2018). Despite a robust literature on children with disabilities, relatively few studies have consulted children directly (but see Clark, 2018; Kelly, 2005; McMaugh, 2011; Mortier et al., 2011). Yet children’s understandings can vary substantially from those of adults, who “lack a direct line to children’s experience” (Clark, 2011: 6). Furthermore, children may not communicate their struggles with adults spontaneously, and some even conceal them from adults, for example, to appear “good” or “normal,” which can delay their access to necessary support (Clark, 2003; Kayama and Haight, 2014). Thus, consulting children directly is foundational to the design of effective child-centered special education and social work services, and contributes to a growing interest in the U.S. of the firsthand experiences of children (Clark, 2011).

Conceptual framework

Our conceptual framework is broadly shaped by developmental cultural psychology (e.g., Miller et al., 2003) and existing scholarship on the sociocultural processes of stigmatization in childhood (Clark, 2018; Varenne and McDermott, 1998). Development is a dynamic process embedded within sociocultural-historical contexts. Children actively participate in co-creating meanings, including of disability and stigmatization, through their everyday interactions with their peers, educators, and parents (Corsaro, 2018). Such responses to stigmatization can lead to diversity in children’s experiences of stigmatization even within the same culture (Clark, 2003).

During middle childhood, when peer groups become increasingly important contexts for exploring social relationships (Harter, 2006) and social comparisons flourish (Eccles, 1999), stigmatization associated with disability can become especially challenging for children (Kayama et al., 2020). For example, the periodic removal of children with disabilities from their general education classroom for specialized services can signal to peers that they are set apart, potentially as social inferiors worthy of stigmatization (Kayama and Haight, 2014; Mortier et al., 2011). Indeed, children with disabilities in several countries report teasing and feelings of being isolated, different, and “less than” their peers (e.g., Harðardóttir et al., 2015; Mortier et al., 2011), which can undermine their academic, social, and emotional functioning (Kelly, 2005; McMaugh, 2011; Njelesani, 2019). Yet children with disabilities may take initiative to uphold viable selves within contexts in which they are singled out for social scrutiny, for example, by enlisting support from a trusted friend (Clark, 2018). Children also may respond to stigma-related challenges creatively, for example, through play and humor (Clark, 2003; Kayama and Haight, 2014). Other responses to stigmatization, however, may result in additional developmental challenges. For example, physical responses may lead to exclusionary discipline (e.g., out-of-school suspensions), and avoidance of peer groups to missed opportunities for academic growth and overall development.

We define disabilities as biologically mediated impairments that are given meanings within sociocultural, historical, and political contexts. Perceptions of which biological impairments are considered “disabilities,” and what constitutes “support” vary across cultures and over time (Varenne and McDermott, 1998). For instance, in contemporary school systems within societies that prize academic achievement (Danforth, 2016), children with neurological differences that make decoding of written symbols difficult are considered to have “disabilities” (dyslexia) and are vulnerable to stigmatization. Yet in earlier historical periods and in cultural contexts where literacy is not widespread, these same children would be viewed as “typically- developing.”

We conceptualize variations in children’s responses to disability-related stigmatization from the perspective of “universalism without uniformity,” a central concept of developmental cultural psychology (see Shweder and Sullivan, 1993). Stigmatization associated with disability is a culturally widespread issue (“universalism”), but how it is experienced reflects diverse sociocultural-political responses to disability (“without uniformity”), including special education policies. The experience of disability and stigmatization also reflects within group variation in individuals’ psychosocial functioning and other intersectional factors such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and family and community resources (Harðardóttir et al., 2015; Kayama and Haight, 2014; Njelesani, 2019). Examining such variations in understandings of common issues can facilitate “creative understanding,” a process described by Bakhtin (Morson and Emerson, 1990). Exploration of diverging perceptions on culturally common challenges of children allows us to identify overlooked issues we take for granted and deepen our understandings of them (Miller and Cho, 2018).

Japanese education systems: Socialization within peer groups

Japan and the U.S. with their distinct sociocultural contexts and educational systems provide excellent contexts for examining the sociocultural shaping of children’s experiences. In Japan, a culture influenced by Confucianism, individuals are particularly attuned to interpersonal differences and group belonging (Lebra, 1976). In part due to concerns with the impact of stigmatization on children’s peer relationships and school learning, special education services for children with mild cognitive and behavioral disabilities, who typically study in general education classrooms, were only introduced in Japanese public schools in 2007 (Ministry of Education, 2007). Contemporary Japanese educators report increasing awareness of the benefits of special education services. Some parents of children with mild cognitive and behavioral disabilities, however, still decline such services due, in part, to concerns about stigmatizing their otherwise “normal” children (Kayama et al., 2020). As a result, only about 2% of Japanese children receive special education services for mild cognitive and behavioral disabilities, although educators identified 8.8% of children in general education classrooms as needing specialized services (Ministry of Education, 2022a, Ministry of Education, 2022b). Japanese special education, consequently, aims to provide support within general education settings as much as possible, especially for children with mild cognitive and behavioral disabilities (Ando, 2018).

Furthermore, in Japanese elementary education, much of children’s academic and interpersonal learning occurs within peer groups (Ministry of Education, 2017). For instance, misbehaviors of children, even physical fights, may be considered opportunities for them to learn appropriate interpersonal skills through direct problem-solving experiences. Educators allow children to autonomously solve conflicts with peers by stepping back and providing direct interventions only when children need immediate support (Tobin et al., 2009). In this context, children with disabilities who are not able to contribute to peer groups as expected, or who frequently experience conflicts with peers, are particularly vulnerable (Kayama et al., 2020). As a result, some children exhibit behaviors such as social withdrawal and aggression that also are stigmatizing (Saito, 2009).

U.S. education systems: Rights-based socialization practice

Relative to Japan, the U.S. places greater value on children’s individual rights (Shweder et al., 2006). U.S. children with disabilities have been entitled to formal special education services since the passage of P.L. 94–142 in 1975, currently the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Department of Education, 2023). This federal law was implemented after the Civil Rights Movement in response to the public’s heightened sensitivity to the rights of children with disabilities to receive an appropriate public education (Wright, 1999). Currently, about 11% of U.S. children receive special education services for mild cognitive and behavioral disabilities (NCES, 2021a). Yet some parents are reluctant for their children to receive such services due to concerns regarding their potential exposure to social exclusion and others’ demeaning behaviors related to their disabilities (Francis, 2015). They also express concern regarding educators’ use of medical and disability labels they perceive to be stigmatizing (Lalvani, 2015).

The U.S. also is a more culturally and economically diverse society than Japan. The intersection of ethnicity and disability presents simultaneous challenges to children’s social and academic development. For example, children with disabilities (Camacho and Krezmien, 2019), especially Black children (Anyon et al., 2014), are at risk for exclusionary disciplinary practices at school, including out-of-school suspensions. National data indicate that 23% of Black children with IEPs (Individualized Education Programs) versus 8.5% of white children with IEPs receive out-of-school suspensions (Gage et al., 2019). Removal of children from school, even temporarily, has negative long-term impacts including an increased risk of dropping out and juvenile justice involvement (see Skiba, 2013).

The current study

In this study, we consult children directly regarding their experiences of disability-related stigmatization using a cross-cultural, comparative case study design. This approach allows for in-depth, holistic examination of each case and comparisons across cases (see Stake, 2006) considering common issues addressed by children (Shweder and Sullivan, 1993), as well as culturally distinct understandings and responses to issues of stigmatization. Understanding children’s experiences of disability in various cultural contexts can sensitize us to the sociocultural shaping of stigmatization and contribute to the development of culturally-affirmative, child-centered, and stigma-sensitive special education services. Our research questions are: How do three children from Japan and the U.S. respond to disability related stigmatization at school? How do their responses impact stigmatization? How are their responses shaped within specific sociocultural and educational contexts?

Methods

The cases

We selected three elementary school-aged boys with formal diagnoses of mild cognitive and behavioral disabilities from our larger ethnographic study (Haight et al., 2013; Kayama & Ando, under review; Kayama and Haight, 2024). All three boys attended public elementary schools. Two Japanese children, Itsuki and Akira (all names are pseudonyms), were selected from middle-class families living in suburban areas of a metropolitan city. Both children attended an after school, academic intervention program for children with disabilities (The Rainbow Plaza), and Akira also received services within a self-contained special education classroom at school. The U.S. child, Michael, was from a working-class family in a middle-sized suburban Midwestern city. He identifies himself as bi-racial. He studied in a general education classroom and received special education services at a resource room within his school.

We selected these specific cases to underscore children’s agencies in creatively responding to challenges at school, examine their diverse responses to stigmatization, and contextualize and deepen our understanding of themes from our larger ethnographic study. Specifically, we consider Japanese and U.S. children’s responses to stigma-related teasing, bullying, and social exclusion, the culturally based responses of educators within Japan and the U.S., and children’s and adults’ distinct understandings of stigmatization within peer groups. These cases illustrate how cross-cultural conversations suggest ways to strengthen practices in both cultural groups.

Researchers

This study was developed through our decades-long, cross-cultural collaboration (see Kayama et al., 2020). Kayama is a Japanese citizen who received graduate education in the U.S., and uses a wheelchair. She has first-hand experiences of disability in both the U.S. and Japan through her wheelchair. Haight is a U.S. citizen and parent of a young adult with a mild cognitive and behavioral disability. Our insider and outsider understandings of disability and disability-related stigmatization in Japan and the U.S. facilitated “creative understanding” of the experiences of children with disabilities at school.

Procedures

All individual interviews were conducted in children’s native languages. The interviews lasted approximately 1 h, were audio-recorded, and conducted in a quiet location familiar to the children. During the interviews, children were asked to describe their school days. This study was approved by the Internal Review Boards of the University of Mississippi and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Parents provided consent for their children’s participation. Children then provided their assent. They chose to participate individually, without their parents accompanying them.

At the Japanese site, Kayama used an art-elicitation strategy (see Clark, 2011) to facilitate conversations. Children were given a sheet of paper and colored pens, and invited to “do an art project” about their typical day at school using drawings and words. As children worked on their projects, Kayama asked a variety of questions in a conversational manner that probed children’s school experiences, including challenges and how they responded. For example, when a child made a drawing representing recess, she asked about peer relationships and how they handled any troubles with peers.

Kayama also observed children and their parents before, after and during the interviews. Her field notes described: (1) children’s interactions with their parents and educators, (2) her informal conversations with the children, their parents, and educators, and (3) discussions with the administrators and educators about participant children based on their day-to-day practices with them, and their medical and school records. Japanese interview data were collected in 2018.

At the U.S. site, graduate research assistants brought LEGO and other games to facilitate conversations with children about their school experiences, including their peer relationships.

Parents of the U.S. children participated in audio-recorded 20–30 min collateral interviews in which they described their observations of their children at home and school, and provided some developmental history. Kayama and a graduate research assistant then observed these children at school for a half day each in their classrooms. Their field notes described informal conversations with the children, their peers and educators, and the children’s interactions with peers and educators at school. These children’s classroom teachers also filled out a one-page questionnaire on their observations of participant children during their everyday practices, including whether the children’s behaviors displayed during the researchers’ participant observations were typical. U.S. data were collected in 2012.

Data analysis

All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed in the original languages. Only illustrative excerpts of Japanese data were translated into English. Kayama compiled all data on each case. We listened to each qualitative interview, read and re-read the transcript and all other materials on each child in a holistic manner (Stake, 2006). This involved considering all material carefully, empathically, and with an open mind (see Lieblich et al.,1998). This step in the analysis provided the thick description of each case (Lincoln and Guba, 1985 ; Schwandt, 2015) necessary for the cross-case analysis. We (Kayama and Haight) first interpreted children’s experiences, particulary diversity in their responses to the common challenges they identified (Shweder and Sullivan, 1993): teasing, bullying, and social isolation as forms of disability-related stigmatization. Then, we contextualized each child’s responses within specific sociocultural and educational contexts. Finally, we developed descriptive narratives that illustrate strategies utilized by the three children in navigating stigmatization at school.

Results

All three children experienced teasing, bullying, social exclusion, and other forms of disability-related stigmatization from their peers in general education classrooms, and actively responded in ways that were generally successful in reducing their immediate exposure to stigmatization. These responses, primarily avoidance of peers or physical fighting, also limited their engagement with developmentally important relationships with peers and educators, failed to address underlying issues of peers’ stigmatization, and sometimes concealed stigmatization from adults. Educators in the U.S. actively responded to children’s peer conflicts, sometimes through exclusionary disciplinary practices which compounded the psychosocial and academic challenges of children with disabilities. Educators in Japan rarely provided immediate interventions for children’s peer group conflicts instead allowing children to learn autonomously through working out their differences themselves. Neither approach by U.S. nor Japanese educators reduced peers’ stigmatization. The use of exclusionary discipline by U.S. teachers may even have increased stigmatization. Japanese educators’ emphasis on children’s autonomy may have prolonged children’s exposure to stigmatization.

Japanese children

Similar to other Japanese children in our larger study (Haight et al., 2013; Kayama & Ando, under review; Kayama and Haight, 2024), both Itsuki and Akira viewed handling peers’ disability-related stigmatization as their own responsibility, and hesitated to ask educators for help. These responses are consistent with Japanese indirect socialization practices through which adults encourage children to solve social and interpersonal problems autonomously within peer groups (e.g., Tobin et al., 2009). These practices may support typically developing children’s problem solving, but without educators’ direct support children with disabilities experiencing stigmatization can become socially isolated. Furthermore, children’s active attempts to navigate stigmatization may result in other negative developmental outcomes. For example, both Itsuki and Akira avoided peers in their general education classrooms to reduce exposure to stigmatization, but ended up isolated within a small group of children where they felt safe. Neither child fully benefited socially or academically from interactions with a wide range of peers.

Itsuki: Sixth grade boy with dyslexia

Itsuki is the only child of divorced parents. He lives with his mother and has limited contact with his father. His mother works full-time as a nurse at a large hospital and has high expectations for Itsuki. She has implemented strict rules at home, for example, prohibiting him from watching TV and playing video games. She views Itsuki as having good relationships with friends. For example, he enjoys yo-yo tricks with several friends after school. Itsuki, however, reports bullying and other peer problems at school.

Although Itsuki has a diagnosis of dyslexia, he does not receive special education services at school. Instead, he receives academic support at the Rainbow Plaza. Educators there describe him as a quiet child who follows instructions and completes assignments without being distracted by other children, but who rarely speaks or asks questions. He responds to his teachers’ direct questions briefly and without elaboration or deeper discussion. Itsuki describes himself as slow in understanding and following academic instructions, particularly for assignments involving writing and reading.

Itsuki’s narrative of peer relationships: Using his “thin shadow” to avoid stigmatization while cultivating relationships with a small group of friends

In his general education classroom, Itsuki describes himself as having a “thin shadow” [kage-ga usui; not making a strong impression on others] which allows him to participate peripherally in group activities while avoiding stigmatizing behavior from peers. He describes:

During the cleaning time, for example, I do work, but sometimes I take a break in the hallway, standing there or talking to my friends. But not many people notice that I’m not working, maybe because my shadow is thin. I’m standing near the door, but always, [other children] don’t notice me standing there. Also, when playing hide and seek, I was there, in front of them, but they passed by me. [Interviewer: Didn’t you feel bad?] I didn’t feel that bad. I felt, “I’m lucky.” [Interviewer: Because you didn’t have to be bothered by them?] Yeah.

Yet Itsuki also expresses a strong preference for being with other children rather than being alone. At school, he has a small group of several children who recognize themselves as “friends.” During recess, he usually is with them, for example, going to the library, drawing in their classroom, or playing on the playground. In this group, Itsuki prioritizes maintaining friendships, even when distressed by his friend’s physically aggressive behavior, including hitting him and other children. Similar to his strategy in larger groups, Itsuki avoids handing conflicts directly and accepts his peer’s behavior, “He’s like a person who must retaliate when someone touches him, even accidentally. It’s ok because he is my friend. I know that’s him. I’m with him since third grade, and he’s been like that.”

In short, Itsuki’s strategies for navigating stigmatization by avoiding larger peer groups and prioritizing relationships within a small group of friends result in ongoing victimization by bullies. Such strategies also conceal his difficulties, including from educators. He reports that he asks adults for help only when peers’ behaviors become “too violent.” He also describes his mother as helpful, for example, writing a note to his teacher when he has a problem at school.

Akira: Fourth grade boy with dyslexia and mild autism spectrum disorder

Akira is an only child. His father works full-time at a public university, and his mother stays at home. He started receiving early intervention programs when he was 3-years-old. As a fourth grader, Akira studies in a self-contained special education classroom, but visits his general education classroom daily. He also has received academic intervention at the Rainbow Plaza beginning in first grade. Educators describe him as having difficulties in adjusting to a large group due to his “perfectionistic” tendencies, anxiety, and lack of confidence. They also report his strong negative reaction to school, especially his general education classroom. His parents observe, “As soon as he gets back home, he puts all his school stuff away where he can’t see it. He doesn’t like to hear a word like ‘textbook’ at home.” Although Akira and his parents have been informed several times that he no longer needs intensive support in a self-contained special education classroom, they have chosen to keep him there. Understanding his lack of confidence at school, his parents have created opportunities through which he can gain confidence and social skills. For example, Akira likes to play baseball and is a member of a club team outside of school.

Akira’s narrative of peer relationships: Avoiding peer groups in the general education classroom while seeking safety in the special education classroom

In his general education classroom, Akira describes a lack of belonging, and being left out by his peers, “I like [a place] where I can study at my pace. [In my general education classroom], I have to catch up with other [children], but they go very fast, leaving me out…. Sometimes, I feel I don’t want to study there.” Akira also expresses anxiety about school and some avoidance. He describes:

I liked school in first grade, but in May [second month in first grade], my teacher [forced] me to read aloud books. I hated that and school. It was the same in second grade. Then I had a new teacher and felt that school was fun... but [in fourth grade], I still feel [on Mondays], “Another week at [school] begins. I don’t want to go.”

Yet with support from his mother and teachers he can trust, Akira states, “I want to work hard so I can get along with other [children].… There are days I don’t want to go. But it’s fun if I come to school.” Such effort, however, is exhausting. He describes, “I feel relieved [safe] at home. There are many things I like at home. That’s good. I like stuffed animals. I like sleeping surrounded by them. [I feel relieved] if I am with something I like.”

Socially, Akira describes that he enjoys being and playing with friends during recess, but described difficulties in communicating with them and his teachers when he has problems:

I feel it’s difficult to tell my teacher [about problems with other children]. I talk to my mother first. [After my mother sends a note], I talk to my teacher. That’s easier for me, but [my teacher] told me, “It’s too late.” …[He] says that the other person may have forgotten [what he’s done]. If that person [doesn’t remember], it’s difficult to solve the problem. If I tell [my teacher] soon, he said he can talk to [the other child] on the same day.

In contrast, Akira is more confident in his special education classroom. When he was asked to describe when he is proud of himself, he provided an example in his special education classroom:

I can do better than other [children in my classroom] to lead. For example, during the cleaning time, I was told by teachers to lead [the group]. There are fifth graders and four other fourth graders, but I usually am the person who says, “Let’s start” and gives them directions.

For Akira, his self-contained special education classroom is a safe place where he is confident and comfortable. His decision to remain in that classroom, however, limits his access to a wider range of social and academic opportunities including access to secondary education. Note that in Japan, high school is not mandatory, and most do not provide special education services. Furthermore, attending a high school with special education services can limit students’ access to higher education.

U.S. child

Similar to Itsuki and Akira, Michael experiences social isolation and stigmatization within his general education classroom and uses avoidance to minimize his exposure to stigmatization. In the U.S., educators are more directly involved in handling children’s disputes, especially physical fights, than in Japan, including issuing punitive discipline, which itself is stigmatizing (e.g., Skiba, 2013).

Michael: Fourth grade boy with a specific learning disability

Michael lives with his mother, maternal grandmother, an older sister, and a younger brother. His mother identifies herself as white and Michael’s father as Black. Although his parents divorced, his father lives in the same city and Michael regularly visits him. He switched schools several times as his mother occasionally sent her children to her parents’ retirement house in a rural county. In third grade, his mother found a job, and he returned to his first school.

Michael has received special education part-time, at resource rooms since second grade for a specific learning disability (reading and writing). He characterizes the academic support he receives as helpful. For example, he describes his special education teacher, Ms. Carter, “She’s really nice. What she does is she helps me in reading. Every Tuesday and Thursday we read [aloud], and I’m getting really good at reading.” Yet Michael is ambivalent about these specialized services due to anxiety about his peers’ responses to his assignments which are different from theirs, “I’m worried that people are talking behind my back. So that’s why I try to avoid going to [the reading class].”

Michael’s narrative of peer relationships: Isolation from peers to avoid their teasing and bullying

Michael struggles with peer relationships primarily because of teasing and bullying related both to disability and ethnicity. He describes, “People were afraid of me because of my size. …but I’m a really nice guy. They just need to get to know me. I love doing sports.” To avoid conflicts with peers, Michael describes, “I prefer just to stay alone.” Yet he still wishes to have friends:

People should help out with behavior and making friends. I know a lot of people who don’t have friends, and I ask them, “Do you want to be my friend?” and they say, “No.” So that’s why I don’t have a lot of friends. That’s why I’m like a single [lone] wolf, like most of the time I will act like a [lone] wolf.

After being teased and bullied for several months in fourth grade, Michael was involved in a fight. This incident resulted in his out-of-school suspension and referral to an after-school program overseen by the county’s child welfare office that supports the well-being of Black students. He explains the incident:

I got expelled [suspended] for something I did not do... They ended up expelling me for like 3 days, and I had to go readmission myself. While I was expelled, I was at my dad’s… That was [a] happy time, just happy, relaxing. [But the worst was] leaving [school] because I love school. I don’t like to be away from school.

Following his out-of-school suspension, Michael lost trust that his general education classroom teacher would help him. He attempts to handle issues with peers by walking out from his classroom, and reaching out to his special education teacher. For example, he reports that he will leave the classroom without his teacher’s permission, “when I’m in trouble or if somebody’s being mean to me.” His classroom teacher views this behavior as “manipulation of caring adults” to avoid his work. Likewise, his mother views it as “taking advantage” of his special education teacher.

Discussion

The cases of Itsuki, Akira, and Michael deepen and contextualize the major themes from our analyses of children’s experiences of stigmatization associated with disabilities (Haight et al., 2013; Kayama & Ando, under review; Kayama and Haight, 2024). All three children were experiencing disability-related academic or social challenges, and also reported distress associated with stigmatization such as teasing, bullying, and social exclusion. Their active responses reduced their immediate exposure to peers’ stigmatization, but failed to prevent its ongoing occurrence. Their avoidance or fighting also resulted in other, negative consequences.

Further, these children’s responses to stigmatization and adults’ responses to their avoidance or physical fights reflected their cultural and educational contexts. For instance, consistent with differing educational philosophies and practices, Michael more readily involved adults in responding to stigmatization than did Itsuki and Akira. Likewise, U.S. educators more actively involved themselves in children’s peer conflicts than did Japanese educators including the use of punitive discipline.

Finally, children’s understanding of stigmatization varied from that of the adults in their lives. Itsuki actively used his thin shadow, which usually is understood by adults as a sign of social exclusion, to protect himself from stigmatization while participating peripherally in peer groups. Akira and Michael used their special education classrooms as a safe place from peers’ stigmatization. In contrast, adults sought to minimize their time in special education classrooms as limiting their academic and social engagement with peers (e.g., Department of Education, 2023). Adults in each child’s life also were unaware of, or misinterpreted children’s responses to stigmatization. For example, Itsuki’s avoidance of engaging with a larger group of children and acceptance of his “friend’s” aggressive behaviors concealed his challenges from educators. Akira’s preference for his special education classroom stemmed, in part, from his lack of confidence and hesitation to ask educators for help in solving conflicts with peers. Educators responded to Michaels’ physical responses to peers’ teasing and bullying punitively by suspending him from school without addressing peers’ behaviors that led up to his physical response. Likewise, Michael’s strategy for walking away from his classroom was considered problematic by adults, and the underlying meaning of such behavior, including a loss of trust in his teacher and avoidance of teasing by peers, was overlooked.

Limitations

Before considering implications, it is important to address study limitations. Due to the smaller number of girls who participated in our larger study, we limited our examination to the experiences of boys. The intersections of children’s gender, culture, and disability in response to stigmatization is an important topic for future research. Further, the U.S. data are somewhat older than Japanese data. Hence cultural and historical differences may be conflated.

Implications

This paper focused on three cases. We had three primary aims. First, we sought to deepen and contextualize our understanding of children’s experiences of disability and stigmatization. Second, we sought to sensitize professionals and scholars to these issues from children’s perspectives. Finally, we aimed to promote cross-cultural conversations regarding how to support children with disabilities and reduce stigmatization.

These cases underscore the necessity of professionals, including social workers, to consult children directly about their own experiences. The active involvement of children in the planning and implementation of intervention programs can ensure that they receive specialized support that is acceptable and motivating to them. Many children with mild cognitive and behavioral disabilities are fully capable of expressing their preferences for where and how they receive support. These preferences are diverse, and may vary from adults’ assumptions about their preferences. While Akira preferred his special education classroom where he was able to study at his pace, Michael expressed concern about receiving assignments that were different from his typically developing peers. Such diverse preferences of children suggest the need for child-centered, individualized programs of support.

Further, listening to children’s voices underscores the importance of developing intervention programs involving all children, typically developing peers as well as children with disabilities, to eliminate stigmatization. Although children with disabilities in this study were active participants in navigating their peer relationships, their strategies failed to change their peers’ stigmatizing behaviors, and limited their own developmental opportunities within peer groups. Intervention programs targeting all children, such as education regarding disability and social justice, are necessary to promote their understanding of disability and the development of inclusive environments in which children with disabilities are accepted as full members within their classroom and school communities.

Finally, cross-cultural conversations allow social workers, educators, and policy makers to learn from each other. The U.S. special education system, for instance, provides a guide for Japanese professionals of procedures for more promptly providing necessary services to children, such as the identification of those who can benefit from specialized services, assessment of their needs, and development of intervention programs (Department of Education, 2023) in contrast to leaving children like Itsuki in general education classrooms without specialized services. Social workers’ involvement in such procedures also allow for the access to necessary support by children from working class families who may not have access to costly after school intervention programs like the Rainbow Plaza. Further, the IDEA’s requirement to develop a transition plan (Department of Education, 2023), in collaboration with social workers, allows children like Akira to think about a long-term goal to graduate from special education, promoting their access to higher education.

Likewise, U.S. social workers, educators, and policy makers can learn from the Japanese educational practices that focus on children’s relationships as a learning context. Akira’s teacher, for example, did not provide immediate support in responding to peer conflicts, but he supported Akira’s communication with peers by offering Akira his help. Japanese educators, generally, trust children’s ability to learn from overcoming challenges autonomously (e.g., Walsh, 2004). In contrast, U.S. children like Michael may lose trust in educators after receiving stigmatizing, punitive disciplinary practices, which increase the risk of further involvement in peer conflicts leading to suspensions and expulsions (e.g., Haight et al., 2014; Skiba, 2013). Social workers can work with, and advocate for educators (both teachers and administrators) to access adequate resources (e.g., reasonable class sizes and knowledge about disability and intervention programs) that help them focus on supporting children’s relationship building. Such interdisciplinary collaboration can allow for the creation of a safe environment in which children can express their school challenges, and contribute to the development and implementation of interventions that both respect their experiences and support their academic and psychosocial development.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank children who participated in this study for their insights into the school experiences in Japan and the U.S., and their parents who kindly permitted their children’s participation.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded, partly, by the Abe Fellowship (Social Science Research Council; Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership) and the Gamble-Skogmo endowment, University of Minnesota.

ORCID iD

Misa Kayama

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