The effectiveness of parent education program about independent autistic children education centre (OCEM)based on distance education

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of ?Parent Education Program About Autistic Children Education Centre (OCEM) Based on Distance Education?. Participants of the study included parents of 72 autistic children receiving education in an independent Autistic Children Education Center called OCEM in Istanbul. The study was carried out during 2005-2006 school year. The study is an experimental one including pre and post-test to determine the effectiveness of the program. The Parent Education Program included five VCDs each of which comprises about 20 minutes presentations on various topics about Autism and Autistic Children Education Centre (OCEM), five handbooks and telephone calls. Experiment and control groups were randomly determined. The program was applied to experimental group for five weeks while control group did not receive any training at this time. Data were gathered by OCEM Knowledge Test developed by the researcher. The results indicated that significant differences were found between pre-and post-test scores of experimental group. This means that parent education program about Independent Autistic Children Education Centre based on distance education is significantly effective.