Opinions and suggestions of parents, teachers and faculty members about teaching safety skills to individuals with autism spectrum disorders

The purpose of this study was to examine the opinions and suggestions of parents who have children with autism spectrum disorders attending to Eskisehir Yardim Sevenler Dernegi Ozel Egitim Uygulama Merkezi and Research Institute for the Handicapped, special education teachers who work at Eskisehir Yardim Sevenler Dernegi Ozel Egitim Uygulama Merkezi and Research Institute for the Handicapped and faculty members who teach courses in the Department of Applied Behavior Analysis in Graduate School of Social Sciences at Anadolu University about teaching safety skills to individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Descriptive method was used in the study. Data were collected by conducting semi-structured intervies. Data collection forms for parents, teachers, and faculty membres include 10, 12 and 8 questions respectively. Content validity was conducted by obtaining experts' opinions. Pilot interviews were conducted prior to study to shape the latest form for the interview instrument. Eleven parents, 16 teachers and 11 faculty members participated in this study. Interview guidelines developed by the researcher was followed with each participant. Tape recording was taken during the interview with each participant and these records were transcribed by the researcher. Data were analyzed descriptively. The beliavibility and relability of the study was conducted by two researchers. Results showed that the participants of the study regarding teaching safety skills to individuals with autism spectrum disorders important not only children's safety and health but also quality of life of the families. They also stated that there should be instructional goals about safety skills in educational plans of the children with autism spectrum disorders. However, the majority of the parents and teachers reported that they have not delivered systematic instruction for teaching safety skills and few of them explained that when appropriate they used daily routines for teaching safety skills. In addition to these findings, it is also evident that neither teachers nor parents have enough information about teaching safety skills. Faculty members explained that safety skills should be taught systematically via effective teaching procedures and generalizition of these skills should be tested in real settings. Moreover, they also reported that special education teacher training programs for teaching students with intellectual disabilities include more contents, topics, and practicuum opportunities about teaching safety skills. Participicants of the study explained their opinions and suggestions about where to teach safety skills with which methods and by whom. In the light of their opinions and suggestions, it is expected to enhance the literature as well as the practice of teaching safety skills to children with autism spectrum disorders. Keywords: Autism spectrum disorders, Safety skills, Semi-structured interview, Descriptive analysis