An Investigation of Pre-school Teachers' Opinions about the Inclusion of Children with Autism

Abstract

Today we frequently encounter the concept of autism which has been in our lives for the last 75 years. The frequency of autism was 1/10000 in the early years, however today it increased with the ratio of 1/68 and depending on this frequency of autism, autistic students has increased as well in the general education classes. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the ideas of pre-school teachers on inclusion the children with autism. Basic qualitative research method was used in the study; opinions of the teachers were taken through semi-structured interview questions. As a result of the conducted content analysis, it was seen that teachers generally know the basic features of autism, they want children with autism in their classrooms; because mainstream education is more useful for the child with autism, if a child with autism attends their classroom, they will try to get to know the child, they will communicate with the family, prepare an educational program and they will inform other children and families. Findings were discussed in the light of relevant literature and recommendations were developed in parallel with these findings