Investigation of Peer Relationships of Children with and without Special Needs in the Preschool Period

OpenAlex İngilizce

This study aimed to compare the peer relationships ofpreschool children with special needs with their peers without special needs,to determine whether the special needs variable predicts the peer relationshipsof children or not, and examine the peer relationships of children with specialneeds in terms of gender and age variables. 56 preschool teachers and a totalof 112 children, 56 with special needs and 56 without special needs, wereenrolled in the study. The data were collected by using the Information Formand the Child Behavior Scale (CBS). The results of the study indicated thatthere were statistically significant differences between the children with andwithout special needs in prosocial behaviors, asocial behaviors,anxious-fearful behaviors, and hyperactivity behaviors subscale scores. However,there was no significant difference between aggression and exclusion behaviorsubscale scores. It is observed that being with special needs significantlypredicts prosocial behaviors in favor of children without special needs, andasocial, anxious-fearful and hyperactivity behaviors in favor of children withspecial needs. Furthermore, it was determined that gender and age variables donot create a statistically significant difference in the peer relationships ofchildren with special needs. The findings of the study support the requirementto develop effective intervention programs which will increase the peerrelationships and peer acceptance of children with special needs in preschoolinclusive classes.