Investigation of knowledge and opinions of social workers about autism and the mothers of children with autism about social workers

The purpose of the study was to investigate the knowledge and opinions of social workers that work at institutions and organizations affiliated to Samsun Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Services about austim and mothers of children with autism knowledge and opinions about social workers who have received education services from a special education and rehabilitation center at Samsun. The participants of the was were social workers (n=10) and mothers (n=10) who have children with autism. They participated in the study voluntarily. The study was carried out with a phenomenological desing, which is one of the qualitative research approaches and the data were collected by structured and semi-structured interview techniques. For both participant groups, the structured questions were analyzed by quantitative analysis and semi-structured questions were analyzed by content analysis. As a result of content analysis, seven main themes and 10 sub-themes have been obtained from social workers and four main themes and seven sub-themes have been obtained from the mothers of children with autism. Findings showed that the social workers stated that they can study with children with autism and their families about providing care and guidance and counseling service. Social workers stated that they need training about autism and their social rights. They think that their training needs can be met with seminars or in-service trainings. Additionally, findings showed that mothers mostly benefit from psychologists, psychiatrists, and economic support provided to children with disabilities apart from special education teachers. Findings also showed mothers who have children with autism have some information about the concept of "social work" but they do not have any information about "social workers". Keywords: Autism, Social Worker, Mothers of Children with Autism, Phenomenology, Structured and Semi-structured conversation.