פנייה לעזרה של מתבגרים למורים וליועצות חינוכיות: הבדלים בין מתבגרים בחינוך המיוחד המשולב לבין מתבגרים בחינוך הרגיל

The study was designed to examine the rate at which adolescents in regular education and special education seek help from teachers and educational counselors on academic and personal issues. Underlying this examination is the fact that adolescents in special education face more difficulties than their normative peers, and are at higher risk. The participants were 144 students in regular classes, and 139 in special-education enhancement classes, primarily designed for students with neuro-developmental disorders that limit their ability to acquire various cognitive skills. The students completed personality questionnaires and a help-seeking questionnaire. The findings revealed that for personal issues, adolescents in special education tended to turn to their teachers more than their peers in regular education. No differences were found regarding turning to counselors. In both groups, the informal attributes of the sources of help significantly contributed to explaining the variance in willingness to seek help. It was also found that personality variables, such as attachment style, contributed to this variance. The discussion addresses these differences in choosing sources of help, and the role of these sources.