Abstract:

The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes and behaviors of typically developing children toward their peers with special needs in inclusive early childhood settings in Turkey. Participants in this study were eight typically developing and two specially developing children between the ages of 5 and 6 in two inclusive kindergarten classrooms, typically developing children’s parents, and their classroom teachers. Qualitative analysis of semistructured interviews with open-ended questions and field observations were used to gain more insight related with children's attitudes toward their classmates with special needs with the support of field observations. After learning about typically developing children's knowledge about disabilities and attitude-related themes, based on an analysis of both observations and interview data, were presented. These themes were categorized into two broad categories, according to being positive or negative framings. Positive topics mostly included liking, helping and protecting rather than being afraid, and involving them into their play. Negative topics generally appeared in the observations that focused on the typically developing children's low expectations regarding their peers with special needs, ignoring and rejecting them, and playing rough with them

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