Attitudes toward disabled persons: A comparative study of adaptive physical education and physical therapy majors

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the attitudes of Adaptive Physical Education and Physial Therapy majors toward the disabled. The subjects used were composed of 58 student assistants involved in the Motor Development/Recreation program for the disabled and handicapped at the University of Wisconsin -LaCrosse. The testing device used as the Attitude Towards Disabled scale which measures attitudes toward disabled persons in general. The statistical device used as a T-test run between the scores of the 30 Adaptive Physical Education majors and 28 Physical Therapy majors. The results of the T-test showed that there was no difference in attitudes of the Adaptive Physical Educator majors and the Physical Therapy Education majors toward the disabled at the .05 level of significance.