Comparison of autism awareness levels of teacher candidates in different branches

This study was conducted to determine the existing autism awareness of teacher candidates in different branches. It is also thought that the study will be beneficial in increasing autism awareness. The population of the research consists of Classroom Teaching, Special Education Teaching, Preschool Teaching and Guidance and Psychological Counseling teacher candidates studying at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University. In our research, the "Autism Awareness Scale" was used with the quantitative research method, and a Google forms survey was applied to collect data. The surveys were filled in on a voluntary basis by the participants after they were informed about the subject. The sample group of the study consists of 435 students studying in four different departments at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Faculty of Education in the 2024-2025 academic year.The sample group of the study consists of students studying at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Faculty of Education in the 2024-2025 academic year. Among the statistical analysis methods, descriptive statistics, One-Way ANOVA and Independent Sample T-Test were used in the study. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the autism awareness levels of the classroom teacher candidates did not differ significantly according to the variables of gender, age, economic status, city of residence, knowledge of autism and experience with autism. However, it was concluded that the autism awareness levels of the teacher candidates differed significantly according to the variables of department, class level and taking special education courses.