Children with special needs in preschool period examination of school adaptation status

The aim of the study is to examine pre-school children with special needs and how with they adapt to the an educational setting. For this purpose, the simultaneous design, which is one of the mixed method designs, was used to evaluate the school adjustment of the teachers who have children with special needs in their class. The study was carried out in official independent kindergartens, special education kindergartens and schools/classes affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in the province of Istanbul. As a result of the research, when the mean score of school adjustment of the data obtained from the scale is examined, the mean score of girls is compared to the mean score of boys, the mean score of inclusive classes is compared to the mean score of children educated in special education needs classes, and the mean score of children educated in pre-school education institutions affiliated to the Ministry of National Education is found in special education kindergartens, showed a significant difference from the mean scores of the children who continued their education. In addition, the mean scores of children with mental, physical, language and speech disorders differed significantly compared to the mean scores of school adjustment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In the interviews with the teachers, it was emphasised that individual factors, families and teachers were determinants in the adaptation of children with special needs to school, and suggestions were made regarding the classroom problems that were encountered. In conclusion, the research showed that there were various factors that impacted children with special needs and their ability to adapt into a school setting. The importance of cooperation between families, teachers and schools for these problems had also emerged. Keywords: Special Needs, Preschool, School Adjustment, Special Education