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Opinions of Turkish Parents and Teachers About Safety Skills Instruction to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Preliminary Investigation

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Abstract

Safety skills instruction should be regarded as one of the important teaching areas. A descriptive study was designed to reveal the opinions of Turkish parents and teachers of children with autism spectrum disorders regarding safety skills instruction. Data were collected through interview and analyzed descriptively. Findings showed that (a) both parents and teachers were able to define safety skills, (b) they found safety skills instruction important and necessary, (c) rather than providing systematic instruction they use natural occurrences as teaching opportunities and prevention behaviors, (d) parents have never had a conversation with teachers about safety skills instruction, and (e) neither parents nor teachers have enough knowledge and experience for teaching safety skills. Implications for implementing safety training are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a Grant from the Anadolu University Research Fund (Project No: 1304E070). Authors would like to Miss Dulce Castillo for her insightful proofreading and Dr. Gonul Kircaali-Iftar for her comments.

Authors’ Contributions

NS conceived of the study, participated in the design, collected data and helped to draft manuscript; ETI conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, analysis and interpretation of the data and write the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bir Inci Ozel Egitim Merkezi, Eskisehir, Turkey

    Nursinem Sirin

  2. Research Institute for the Handicapped, Anadolu University, 26470, Eskisehir, Turkey

    Elif Tekin-Iftar

Authors
  1. Nursinem Sirin
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  2. Elif Tekin-Iftar
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Correspondence to Elif Tekin-Iftar.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this study.

Additional information

The first author completed this study in partial fulfillment of the requirements of a Master of Science Degree in Applied Behavior Analysis in Autism at Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey.

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Sirin, N., Tekin-Iftar, E. Opinions of Turkish Parents and Teachers About Safety Skills Instruction to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Preliminary Investigation. J Autism Dev Disord 46, 2653–2665 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2809-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2809-2

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