Mother's participation in literacy education of children with special learning disability: A draft training program

The aim of this study is to propose a draft education program for mothers in order to support their participation in the process of literacy learning of their children with special learning disabilities and to examine the results after applying the draft program. Qualitative data collection methods such as interviews, observations, end-of-session evaluation forms, daily logs were used in this study. The participants of the study were determined by using criterion sampling which is one of the purposive sampling methods. The participants were four children with special learning disability and their mothers and teachers of these children. In the analysis of the qualitative data, descriptive analysis was performed by using the MAXQDA 18 qualitative data analysis program. According to the results obtained from the study; before the implementation of the draft mother education program, the mothers stated that children with special learning difficulties faced negative situations in their study behaviors due to the difficulties and unwillingness of the child to learn academic skills during the literacy education process. The teachers stated that they could not get the support they expect from the family due to insufficient teacher-parent communication and cooperation in the child's literacy education process and because the family had insufficient and incorrect information. In the study, the draft of the mother education program based on participant statements; It is believed that the mothers have positive contributions in terms of cooperation with the teacher, better communication with the child and the teacher and having the child do homework / repetition at home. In addition, the participant teachers stated that there were positive changes in the motivation of mothers and children and that mothers took a more active role and responsibility in the education of their child. Based on the observation findings, the mother education program is thought to have positive reflections on the literacy studies carried out together with the mother and child. Based on the findings of the study, in-service trainings on communication and cooperation with the family can be organized for teachers.