Mother,father and teachers 'views on social skills of pre-school children with special needs: a mixed method study

The aim of this study is to determine the social skill levels of 48-72 months old children with special needs in preschool in line with the opinions of parents, teachers and teachers and to determine their opinions about the factors affecting their social skills. The descriptive design of the mixed methods was used in which quantitative and qualitative methods were used together. Social Skills Assessment Scale was applied to 210 people consisting of mothers, fathers and teachers of 70 children with special needs between the ages of 48-72 who were attending public and private preschool education institutions in Gaziantep. There was a statistically significant difference in that parents evaluated their children 's social skills levels more positively than their teachers. In addition, it was found that the social skills of children with autism were evaluated lower than other types of disability. Individual interviews were conducted with eight mothers, one father and seven teachers, who were identified with extreme sampling among the participants who answered the scale. In line with the opinions of parents, teachers and experiences of perceptions of children with special needs, factors affecting social skills and needs and suggestions for supporting social skills were obtained. As a result, it was seen that the social skills deficiencies of children with autism were more prominent than other disabilities, so parents, teachers and teachers supported the participation of children with special needs in preschool education and expected to improve the quality of inclusion practices in preschool education. Keywords; Social Skills, Students with Special Needs, Inclusion, Preschool Education, Mixed Methods.