Abstract:

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is expressed as a condition that affects individuals' life functions and may cause social relations, communication, behavior and developmental disorder. One of the most important factors facilitating a successful adaptation of an autistic child is the social support factor that helps meet the needs of the autistic child and their families, helps them to reduce their problems, facilitates their dealing with these problems, and reduces the stress level of their families. The main reason for the socialization problems caused by the behavior of the autistic individuals or the family attitudes is the inadequacy of consciousness about the autism spectrum disorder of the society and the attitude mistakes they exhibit accordingly. The purpose of the present study is to increase awareness of autism through education and peer talks given to mothers who are with 4-6 year old children and who do not have ASD members within their family. The sample of the study in which experimental design that includes single group pre-test and post-test was used was composed of 32 mothers whose children were educated in Sıdıka Sami Kula Kindergarten in Karesi District of Balikesir province in 2017-2018 academic year and 16 mothers with autistic children who were studying in the Support Foundation for Autistic Individuals (OBIDEV). The trainings were carried out as 12 sessions and 6 weeks in the center of the OBIDEV. Each session was preceded by 40-minute conversations, in which 8 small groups of 6 persons, consisting of 2 mothers with ASD children and 4 mothers from the study group, talked on a free subject. The data collection tool used in the pre-test and the post-test is the Autism Awareness Questionnaire consisting of 24 questions developed by the researchers. In the analysis of collected data, frequency, percentage and McNemar test for dependent groups were used. As a result of the research, significant differences were found in the post-training regarding recognition and identification of autism, acceptance and coexistence with autistic individuals, acceptance and meeting families with autistic children, and expressing the problems experienced by families with autistic children.

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