A study on family opinions concerning services provided in special education centers

Abstract

This study is to diagnose and evaluate children with different special needs medically and educationally, and as a result of those evaluations, to identify families’ expectations, opinions and suggestions concerning the special education process, services and the functioning of special education institutions. The mothers of 5 children who attended special education centers located in the city center of Nicosia in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, were included. The data of the study was gathered through semi-structured interviews and the study has been designed with the research method qualitatively. The opinions of mothers were gathered under 5 main themes. The study results show that children who were diagnosed/evaluated at an early stage were integrated into education earlier and benefit more from special education institutions compared to other children. Furthermore, another conclusion of the study is that mothers’ anxiety and stress decreases as the social support they receive increases.