Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a parent education program on parents’ awareness about the Independent Autistic Children Education Centre (ACEC: in Turkish OCEM). The program was offered through a distance education program. Participants of the study included parents of 72 children with autism who were receiving education in one of the ACEC in Istanbul. The study was carried out during 2005-2006 school year. The research study was experimental including a pre and a post-test to determine the effectiveness of the program. The Parent Education Program included five VCDs, each of which incorporated about 20 minute-presentation on various topics about Autism and the ACEC, and five handbooks. Participants in experimental and control groups were randomly assigned. The experimental group took a five-week training while the control group did not receive any training. Data were gathered by ACEC Knowledge Test developed by the researchers. The results indicated that significant differences were found between pre-and post-test scores of the experimental group. The findings showed that parent education programme offered through the distance education about Independent Autistic Children Education Centre was significantly effective.

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