Abstract:

In Turkey, families having children with special needs have to deal with most of the problems they encounter by themselves. That makes it difficult for children with special needs to receive treatment, care, development, and education services at required and adequate levels. Interview technique, a qualitative research method, was employed in the present study. A 12-question interview form developed by the researchers and finalized based on expert opinions and a personal information form composed of 28 questions were used. The questions included in the interview form were categorized as follows: the attitudes of people towards children with special needs, architectural and environmental problems encountered, the problems experienced by children with special needs in school, the positive and negative behaviors observed to be displayed by children with special needs in childhood, the solutions of families for problem behaviors, and the expectations of families from teachers, special education and rehabilitation centers, the state, non-governmental organizations, and local administrations. The results related to the research are described in detail with examples given by the family.

Keywords: