A study on family opinions concerning services provided in special education centers

Abstract

This study is to diagnose and evaluate children with different special needs medically and educationally and, as a result of those evaluations, to identify families' expectations, opinions and suggestions concerning the special education process, services and the functioning of special education institutions. The mothers of five children who attended special education centres located in Nicosia, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, were included. The data were gathered through semistructured interviews, and the study were designed with the research method qualitatively. The opinions of mothers were gathered under five main themes. The results show that children who were diagnosed/evaluated at an early stage were integrated into education earlier and benefit more from special education institutions compared with other children. This study concludes that mothers' anxiety and stress decrease as the social support they receive increases.