Social ecology of the workplace: contextual variables affecting social interactions of employees with and without mental retardation.

The social interaction patterns of employees with and without mental retardation across several different competitive employment sites were observed directly; narrative recording procedures were used. The data were analyzed to determine whether there were differences between the two groups of employees and the people involved in the interactions and the time period of the interaction and whether the interaction involved a social or task-related topic. The results were discussed in relation to their implications for integrating workers with mental retardation into settings with nonhandicapped workers.