Review of the Studies on Writing Skills of Students with Specific Learning Disabilities in Elementary Education | Author : Özlem ILKER, Macid Ayhan MELEKOGLU | Abstract | Full Text | Abstract :Learning disabilities that negatively affect students’ academic performance can be observed in many skills including listening, speaking, understanding, reading, writing, and mathematics. Some students encounter problems in recognizing words, while others struggle with grabbing pencils or written language. There are some interventions implemented to identify or overcome those challenges that students experience in primary education. Current literature on the topic of learning disabilities indicates that most of the interventions focus on reading skills and there are a limited number of studies on writing skills. Besides, those studies on writing are usually conducted with students with typical development. Therefore, the aim of this study is to review intervention studies on writing skills of students with learning disabilities in primary grades. For this study, Google Scholar, EBSCOHost, Elsevier Science Direct and ERIC databases were searched and 23 studies that met the inclusion criteria of this study were examined. Results manifested that majority of those studies were on writing strategies, most of the studies focused on self-management strategy, the number of male participants was more than female participants, most of the studies used experimental or single subject designs, there was no consensus on implemented interventions and those interventions were different from each other. |
| Naturalistic Instructional Approaches to Support Inclusion of Preschool Children with Disabilities | Author : Salih Rakap | Abstract | Full Text | Abstract :Educating preschool children with disabilities along with their typically developing peers with in- and out of class support is a common practice that has been used since 1970s in the United States and other developed countries. Over the years, the practice has been named as mainstreaming, integration, and inclusion. For inclusive education to be successful, teachers who work with children with disabilities in inclusive settings should be able to adapt their instructional practices and have the skills to identify and use naturalistic instructional approaches. The purpose of this paper was to describe five commonly used naturalistic instructional approaches designed to support development and learning of preschool children with disabilities in inclusive settings, explain active ingredients of these approaches, and present a summary of scientific evidence for their effectiveness. These approaches included incidental teaching, milieu teaching, activity-based intervention, transition-based teaching, and embedded instruction. At the end of the paper, the author discussed the features of effective professional development programs for training pre- and in-service teachers to use naturalistic instructional approaches. |
| A Study on the Communicative Functions Used in Various Contexts by a Child with Hearing Loss | Author : Esra Genç, Yildiz Uzuner, Tamer Genç | Abstract | Full Text | Abstract :This case study aimed to examine the communicative functions in various contexts of a child with hearing loss. The data were collected via various data collection techniques. The collected data were analyzed either inductively or descriptively. Additionally, the master tape was developed paying attention to the diversification of the context and spontaneity of the interactions. The master tape was analyzed descriptively utilizing the control list of communicative function definitions which were derived from this research. As a result of the analysis, it has been found that the child exhibits 14 different communicative functions. The findings of the research showed that the child exhibited communicative functions similar to that of a child without a hearing loss in a variety of natural contexts, and he used communicative functions in verbal and/or nonverbal forms, a finding which is consistent with previous research studies. The results of the research were discussed on the basis of the literature and it was concluded that the type of communicative function used and the frequency of use were related to the nature of the context and interaction. It is considered that the research will guide the related research and children with hearing loss, their families, and teachers in the use of communicative functions. |
| Determining the Opinions of Preschool Teachers Regarding Inclusion | Author : Emine Sema Batu, Serhat Odluyurt, Ezgi Alagözoglu, Melih Çattik, Serife Sahin | Abstract | Full Text | Abstract :The general purpose of this study was to determine the opinions of preschool teachers about inclusion. Participants were 45 preschool teachers from 8 preschools who had students with special educational needs in their classes during the study or had in the previous years and who were working in public preschools in Eskisehir, Turkey. They had 2-27 years of teaching experience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers and the data were analyzed descriptively. The results of the study revealed that although the participants had positive opinions about inclusion, they still did not have enough knowledge about that. Besides, the inadequate knowledge the teachers had was related to the types and characteristics of disabilities of the children, inclusion, effective teaching methods, accommodations, and so forth. The findings of the study were discussed in terms of the present literature. |
| Feeding Problems and Evidence-Based Behavioral Interventions in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder | Author : Bekir Fatih Meral | Abstract | Full Text | Abstract :Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is defined as the displaying limited repetitive behaviors, interests, and activities as well as the impairments in social communication and social interaction. Recent studies have shown that feeding problems are quite prevalent among children with ASD. The purpose of the current review is to summarize the feeding problems experienced by children with ASD and what the non pharmacological behavioral interventions based on evidence-based practices are toward solving these problems. Providing a couple of tips are aimed with regard to the intervention techniques for parents of children with ASD initially, and educators, experts or caregivers in coping with feeding problems. |
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