Özet:

Face-to-face education has been suspended due to the closure of schools in many countries because of COVID-19 pandemic. While the Ministry of National Education in Turkey started the distance education application for students who continue their general education through the Education Information Network (EBA) on March 23, 2020, students with special needs were recommended to use interactive applications on the internet. For this reason, teachers of students with special needs were expected to inform families and involve students in the process. With this research, it is aimed to determine the opinions and needs of the professionals working with students with special needs regarding the first days of the pandemic. The participants of the research, which was carried out with the phenomenology design, which is one of the qualitative research methods, consist of 91 professional staff working in public and private institutions in Gaziantep. Data were collected between 28/04/2020 - 19/05/2020 with a demographic information form and an online questionnaire consisting of five open-ended questions. The data obtained were evaluated with descriptive analysis. The subjects professional staff need most were: information needs, social needs, psychological support and health support related to the distance education system and the teaching process. They mostly give activity assignments to their students and provide feedback on the assignments and give recommendations like home-based games, activities etc. to the parents. Most of them stated that what they give to students is sufficient, but it is not as efficient as face-to-face education and they cannot catch up with the classroom climate. In order for teachers to adapt to the process, it is recommended to provide in-service training on distance education.

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