The purpose of this study is to reveal the process and the results of the development of an individualized education program (IEP) and gaining the ability to work cooperatively in a team for the junior students of the special education department. The research was carried out as an action research within the look-think-act circle. Data were collected using participant observations, field notes, home works, and diaries of candidate teachers and instructor opinions. Data collected were subjected to the content analysis procedure. During the implementation process, collaborative teaching and learning approaches were adopted. With collaborative learning, along with IEP preparing skills, teamwork capabilities of participants, which are one of the requirements for IEP, were also improved. Moreover, implementation of the course using collaborative teaching represented a good model of collaborative working for participant students. Findings of this study will help teacher educators better prepare their future teachers to cope with the challenges and demands they will face.

The objective of this research is the investigation of the changes in the communication skills of an individual with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) participating in the peer-mediated adapted physical activity (PMAPA) program. One individual with an ASD diagnosis and three peers with typical development (TD) participated in the research which was designed in the model of a case study. In the research, a total of 21 training sessions, including 3 free activity sessions and 18 PMAPA sessions were held with the individual with ASD and 3 peers with TD. In the PMAPA sessions, 29 different adapted physical activities were performed as peer-mediated. 6 sessions of peer training process were held with 3 peers with TD prior to the PMAPA sessions. All sessions carried out throughout the research were recorded with a video camera. Research data were obtained using various data collection tools (observation form, semi-structured interview forms, field notes and reflective journal). According to the research findings, it was determined that the individual with ASD positively increased eye contact, joint interest, initiating communication and responding to communication initiations during PMAPA program. It was detected that these positive changes observed in the communicational skills continued in the follow-up measurement obtained 3 weeks after the research. As a result, the impression was gained that the PMAPA program had a positive effect on the communication skills of the individual with ASD.

The purpose of this research is to examine whether computer aided video instruction (CAVI) is effective in teaching of money withdrawal skill from ATM cash machine to individualas with intellectual disabilities. For this purpose, the ability to withdraw money from the ATM was taught by CAVI, which was prepared for three individuals with intellectual disabilities. Three individuals, aged 16, participated in the study with mild intellectual disabilities. In the research, a single subject research method with multiple probe design with probe conditions across subjects was used. Individuals with intellectual disabilities were assessed for their ability to withdraw money from the ATM by means of CAVI and the degree of untargeted knowledge acquisition. The findings of the study show that CAVI is effective in gaining the skill to withdraw money from the ATM for individuals with mild intellectual disabilitiy. In addition, after completion of the instruction, the students continued to exhibit their acquired skill and this skill was generalized to different ATMs, debit cards, different amounts of money and different passwords. Findings related to the level of untargeted knowledge acquisition provided by CAVI have showed that individuals participating in the research received untargeted information. The social validity findings of the study showed that the opinions of individuals about teaching cash withdrawal skills from ATMs through CAVI were positive.

In this study, to identify the antecedents, environmental events, and contexts which evoke problem behaviors of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), data was collected by the Turkish Form of the Contextual Assessment Inventory (CAI-T) from 23 individuals who were 15-37 years old and the contextual variables which evoke problem behaviors were examined. Firstly, psychometric properties of the CAI-T were examined and then it was filled by 20 teachers who were working at different institutions, means and percentages of items on the inventory were calculated, answers to the open-ended questions were analyzed and the contextual variables which mostly evoke problem behaviors of individuals with ASD were identified. Socio-cultural variables (the tone of the voice of the employee, negatively indicating one’s opinions, not meeting the needs of the individual, not obtaining any rewards or reinforcers, etc.) and the variables related to the tasks or activities (difficult and boring tasks, making many mistakes, change in routines, and so forth) are the most frequently associated events with problem behaviors of individuals with ASD. Researchers indicated that CAI-T was a reliable tool in identifying contexts which evoke problem behaviors of individuals with autism, and they explained that the teachers and special educators could use CAI-T to identify the context of problem behaviors and to plan an intervention program to prevent these behaviors.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of touch math and number line strategy in teaching basic addition to children with intellectual disability. Two students with moderate disability participated in the study. The dependent variable was the performance level of the subjects in adding skills. There are two independent variables in the study. The first independent variable was the touch math program and the second variable was the number line strategy. An alternating-treatments design across participants was utilized. Results indicated that the touch math strategy was more effective and efficient in teaching students’ single-digit addition problems compared to the use of the number line strategy.

To be able to understand a text entirely, person second language need to develop both their morphemic and morpho-syntactic awareness. Morphology-which involves the evaluation of the smallest components-aims to ensure not only the understanding of individual components, but also the entire text. Students’ awareness and knowledge of morphemic and morpho-syntactic skills positively affect their awareness and knowledge of phonetics, syntax and semantics. An increasing number of studies are nowadays emphasizing the importance of morphemic and morpho-syntactic awareness that comprise a number of language components in acquiring reading skills. It is known that there is a positive relationship between the adequacy of sign language in readers with hearing-impairment and their ability to acquire literacy skills. It is also known that both languages have their own linguistic rules, and that their interaction positively contributes to the development of literacy skills in individuals with hearing-imparment. For this reason, based on this positive relationship between sign language skills and literacy skills, the learning of literacy skills by children with hearing-impairment should be improved by teaching the morpho-syntactic characteristics of both languages. This review comparatively examines the morphemic and morpho-syntactic characteristics of the Turkish Sign Language (TSL) and Turkish within the frame of reading activities, and with respect to verb agreement and time categories.

Deficits in social attention is a hallmark of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), though underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine face processing of children with ASD while watching a static picture and a dynamic video on a computer screen, and to compare the results with typically developing children (TD). Participants included 21 children with ASD and 22 TD children whose ages ranged between 5 and 12. Children’s eye tracking data was gathered while watching a static picture and a dynamic video. Fixation count was the dependent variable of the study. A variable effect (static-dynamic) and a developmental effect (ASD-TD) were examined in the study. Study results showed that the fixation counts of children with ASD were higher on lower body area compared to typically developing children, whereas the fixation counts of TD children were higher on the mouth area. Findings of the study also showed that both children with ASD and TD children displayed more fixation counts in static picture compared to dynamic video. Study results were discussed and suggestions for future research were provided.

Education plays an extremely important role in reintegrating individuals with special needs to society. In order to ensure the effectiveness of education, it is necessary to decrease problem behaviors, to increase motivation and commitment and to identify reinforcers. It is necessary to identfy the needs of individuals with special needs in order for reinforcers to be successful therefore it is crucial to make observations or assess preferences in different environments. Literature states that observation method can be used to determine preferences. Observations that are done to identify preferences may involve the use of systematic preference assessments since observations are affected by the personal characteristics of observers, limited nature of stimuli during observations and time consuming nature of the activity. Preference assessments are systematic assessments that are used to determine preferences. This article discusses preference assessment, behaviors used by individuals with special needs to display preference, preference assessment types and important points in effective preferences assessment.