The effect of interactive reading-based program with children's books about individuals with special needs on social acceptance

This study aims to examine the effect of presenting children's books about individuals with special needs through interactive book reading on the social acceptance levels of typically developing preschool children. Interactive book reading is a structured method in which the child interacts with the book and the reader, actively participates through questions, and supports verbal and social development. In this context, in order to support inclusive education in early childhood, presenting picture books about individuals with special needs through interactive reading method is considered as an important tool. The study was conducted with a total of 65 children attending two independent kindergartens in Tokat city center. Of the 65 children, 34 were in the experimental group and 31 were in the control group. The study was conducted with a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group. Seven children's books about individuals with special needs were presented to the experimental group with the "Interactive Book Reading Based Activities" method for 21 sessions, three sessions per week for 7 weeks. Data were collected through the Preschool Acceptance Scale (ASK-R) and analyzed using the SPSS program. As a result of the study, it was observed that there was a significant increase in the social acceptance levels of the children in the experimental group. Significant differences were found between the pre-test and post-test results in favor of the experimental group; in addition, the findings obtained with the retention test pointed to the permanence of the application. On the other hand, no significant change was found in the control group. These results revealed that the "Interactive Book Reading-Based Activities" method contributed to children's more positive attitudes towards their peers with special needs. This study makes a unique contribution to the practical studies conducted to support inclusive education in preschool education settings. The findings emphasize the importance of teachers' use of qualified and structured content related to individuals with special needs in their classroom practices, and also serve as a basis for similar studies, which are limited in the literature.