Examination of views and suggestions about participation of families of children with special needs in individualised education programme

Abstract

Individualised education programmes (IEP) will be practiced with children with special needs (CWSN) and their families. The main factor for IEP’s success is the participation of the family and also, their children. In this study, views and suggestions about participation of families of CWSN in their IEP processes are examined. The research is based on qualitative research. Five mothers and a grandmother with CWSN were participated; data are collected via semi-structured interview technique and analysed with inductive analysis technique. This research uncovers that the participants didn’t participate in their children’s diagnosis, assessment, settlement and follow-up processes, and they were not content with the assessment results. Also, the participants who didn’t participate in the IEP weren’t even aware of the legal obligation that they had to and their children’s IEP, they weren’t in cooperation with the teacher in that process, and teachers didn’t show the progress in the children to the families even if they recorded that.

Keywords: Children with special needs (CWSN), family, individualised education programmes (IEP).