The objective of this phenomenological study was to explore the impact of having a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) on mothers and its impact on their family relations. Using descriptive phenomenology design, 8 mothers were reached in the age range of 20-48 years and were interviewed for this study in 2010. Findings indicated that mothers perceived having a child with autism as an ambiguous loss. The sense of ambiguous loss was found to impair their emotional well-being and caused mood changes. This study has also provided evidence for the sense of ambiguous loss caused by autism to lead to structural and relational problems in family relationships. This study is one of the first studies to reveal that having a child with autism creates a sense of ambiguous loss and provides a basis for understanding its effects on the mother-child relationship, as well as the related effects on family relationships.

In children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), challenges in imitation and symbolic play skills and life-long impairments in verbal language development are observed. Research studies have shown interrelations between challenges in imitation, symbolic play, and language. This study investigates the relationships between imitation types and vocabulary and play complexity. A total of 108 children with ASD ages from 3.0 to 8.0 years, including children in the preverbal period (n = 58) and children with verbal language skills (n = 50), participated in the study. The imitation skills and symbolic play complexity of the children were evaluated using the observation-based procedures prevalently encountered in the relevant literature. Vocabulary of the children was determined by obtaining language samples during conversations. The results showed that there were significant differences between the preverbal and verbal language groups in all imitation types; structured imitation with objects significantly predicted play complexity in the preverbal group; structured imitation with objects and spontaneous imitation significantly predicted play complexity and vocabulary in the verbal language group. The results of the study indicated that different types of imitation skills had an important role in the development of the language and complex play skills of children with ASD.

This research was conducted to find out the problems faced by mathematics teachers at Science and Art Centers (SAC) in Turkey. In this research, case study was carried out as one of the qualitative research designs. The study group of the researchers constitutes 13 teachers who serve as mathematics teachers at SACs in different cities of Turkey in 2017-2018. Semi-structured interview form was used for the collection of research data. Content analysis technique was used for data analysis. While teachers are experiencing some content and suitability problems with the activities; they are also experiencing problems such as irrelevant/reluctant behavior, physical and mental tiredness, absenteeism, and inappropriate behavior with regard to students. Teachers have stated that there are some deficiencies in physical infrastructure and equipment of SAC. Teachers have stated that they have problems with the parents who do not know SAC’s purpose and administrative problems due to the uncertainty of supervisory. Teachers have also emphasized that they have problems with social, personal, and financial matters due to their working hours.

Inclusive education, which is mostly implemented as a full-day co-teaching, has been provided in our country since 1983. Since that time it is remarkable that the practices of inclusive education have increased, but the attempts for inclusion models have been limited. The general objective of this research is to determine the views of all shareholders for the first time in Turkey regarding the implementation of the inclusion model, which was developed as a pilot project in a school where students with cerebral palsy attended. The findings of this research show that there are some problems in practice. In order to solve the problems of the inclusive education model and to make the model more effective, the suggestions of shareholders should be taken into consideration. As a matter of fact, the results of the research show that there are suggestions for solutions related to educational processes, physical conditions, and models.

The aim of this research is to determine the relationship between organizational self-esteem (OBSE) and emotional organizational commitment (EOC) according to views of teachers with and without visual impairments. In addition, the effect of teachers visual impairment and demographic variables on OBSE and EOC levels were examined. The study was conducted with 275 teachers, 119 of whom have visually impairments and 156 have typical vision. "Organization Based Self-Esteem Scale" and "Emotional Organizational Commitment Scale" were used in the study. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as arithmetic mean, standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, Kruskal Wallis-H, correlation, as well as confirmatory factor analysis (DFA) and regression techniques. it was observed that both in OBSE and EOC, the gender was a significant variable in favor of male teachers. Analyses revealed that there was a positive and significant relationship between OBSE and EOC and that organization based self-esteem was a significant predictor of emotional organizational commitment.

The aim of this study is to reveal the metaphor perceptions of students with normal development and special needs regarding the concept of social information. In this study, a phenomenological pattern, a qualitative research model, was used. The study group of the study is composed of 72 students who attended public schools in Karabük, Turkey during the 2016-2017 academic year, 30 of which received inclusive education. In order to gather the study data, the participants were asked to fill in the blanks in the statement: "Social studies is like .........; because ...................". Content analysis was used in the analysis of the data obtained from the study. The findings of the study indicated that normally developing students produced a total of 33 metaphors under 9 categories, whereas students with special needs produced a total of 25 metaphors under 11 categories. As a result of the study revealed that the students predominantly associated the concept of social studies to the concepts of "history" and “the past" predominantly. In comparison with students with normal development, students with special needs included in the study produced mostly concrete metaphors regarding the concept of social studies. Another significant difference between two groups of participants was that the students with special needs emphasized several points regarding the concept of social studies through their metaphors: social studies courses are necessary for them and social studies courses offer them the opportunity to socialize and learn about good manners and behavioural rules.

This research aims to determine the listening strategies of students with visual impairments. For this purpose, a descriptive survey model was used. Within the scope of the research, two separate groups were studied; students without visual impairments (n = 48) and students with a visual impairment (n = 37). A five-point Likert type scale was developed to determine the listening strategies of individuals with visual impairments. Research findings show that individuals with visual impairments frequently or always use listening strategies as expected. Another finding of the study is that students with visual impairments use listening strategies more than others do. It is observed that the students use different metacognitive, cognitive and social strategies. Trainings on less-used strategies may be the main recommendation of this research. Additionally, research findings show that students perform relatively less self-assessment about their listening process. Increasing critical thinking and self-assessment behaviors of students with visual impairment may be another fundamental recommendation.

Compared to children with typical development, sleep problems are more frequently observed in children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities. This affects the daily activities and development of the individuals with sleep problems negatively, while also adversely affecting the other family members who are responsible for the care of these individuals and escalates their stress levels. Thus, it is important to conduct adequate interventions to eliminate sleep problems. While there are various studies on the impact of behavioral intervention methods on the examination of sleep problems in children with developmental disabilities in the international literature, there are no studies on behavioral intervention for the resolution of sleep problems, especially in the field of special education in Turkey. Therefore, the present article aimed to scrutinize behavioral sleep problems in individuals with developmental disabilities, their assessment, and behavioral intervention methods and strategies.