Abstract:

School adjustment is a multidimensional structure affected by different variables and refers to the student's response to the school's demands for change. The way for the child to benefit from this new environment is to adapt socially and academically to this new living space. This study was conducted to examine the relationship between the school adaptation and pragmatic language skills of preschool students with and without special needs. Relational survey method, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the study. The study group of the research consisted of 52 students with special needs who received education in preschool education institutions where inclusive education was implemented and 52 typically developing students selected from the same classes as these students. The data were obtained with school adaptation and pragmatic language skills scales. The findings revealed that students' adjustment to school and pragmatic language skills did not differ significantly based on age. In terms of gender, it was observed that female students had a higher level of adaptation in one sub-dimension of school adaptation than male students, but there was no significant difference in pragmatic language skills in terms of gender. Both school adjustment levels and pragmatic language skills of students with special needs were significantly lower than their typically developing peers. There were significant relationships between school adjustment and pragmatic language skills at medium and high levels. The results indicated that providing interventions to improve the pragmatic language skills of students with special needs during the transition to preschool education would facilitate their school adaptation.

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