Teachers' experience and opinions on teaching joint attention skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorder

Joint attention skills are directly related to skills such as making eye contact, reacting to name, looking at indicated points, which are observed in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. It is thought that it is important to include joint attention skills in the education programmes of children with autism spectrum disorders. This study aims to examine the opinions and suggestions of teachers regarding joint attention in depth by collecting opinions and suggestions from special education teachers on joint attention skills. In this context, the research was planned with a phenomenological design and semi-structured interviews were held with 12 special education teachers. After the interview transcripts were prepared, the raw data obtained were transferred to the NVivo 12 program, which is widely used in the organization and analysis of qualitative data and analysed descriptively with an inductive point of view in this part. The findings of the study reveal that special education teachers need information in the teaching of joint attention skills. In the light of the findings, organizing in-service trainings for teachers to increase and qualify the teaching of joint attention skills is recommended.