Effectiveness of home visiting practice for parents with special needs children in teaching skills to their children in early childhood

This research aims to support mothers with children with special needs living in Gaziantep in 2022-2023 with the home visit plan developed for parents of children aged 0-6 with developmental disabilities, and to support them in teaching their children the skills they have determined within their daily routines. The participants of the research are four children with special needs and their mothers. The research was designed with an exploratory sequential mixed method. In the first stage of the research, determining the needs of parents and children, the needs of parents for teaching skills to their children were determined. Parents stated that they need to teach their children the skills of eating without spilling, taking off trousers, and washing hands. In the second stage of the research, home visits were planned and implemented in line with the needs stated by the parents. The effectiveness of home visiting was tested using the cross-behavioral multiple probe model, one of the single-subject research methods. Then, the participating mothers' evaluations regarding the home visit were taken. During home visits, they prepare their children, provide instructions, act as a model, offer clues when needed, reinforce, etc. It has been observed that they have become able to teach skills by using the steps. Their children acquire the targeted skills; It was observed that the participants demonstrated the skills they acquired 2, 4 and 6 weeks after the end of the training and generalized them to the environment, material and different skills. In the evaluations of the parents, it was seen that they stated that the home visit helped them gain teaching skills and that their children also learned the skills.