Autism, Technology, and Prospective Special Education Teachers

Abstract

Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder which causes deficits in social interaction. Individuals with autism sometimes may not be able to talk or may choose not to talk. Therefore; there needs to be some other ways to communicate with children with autism. Presently, technology, specifically educational technology comes to the scene to help this communication problem. Individuals’ definitions of technology may confuse with their definitions of science. Although technology is neither the same nor the product of science, people sometimes use these terms interchangeably. Children with autism, as well as other special needs children, need highly qualified teachers to help them communicate the world. Based on the explanations above, this research study examines prospective special education teachers’ understandings of technology and its use in interventions for children with autism. Thirty prospective special education teachers from a big scale university located in Marmara region participated in this research study. Data were collected through a questionnaire developed by the researcher and a series of semi-structured interviews. Questionnaire includes open-ended questions to examine participants’ understandings of autism, technology, and use of technology in interventions for autism. Interviews are also structured around these three issues. Data gathered from questionnaire and interviews were analyzed qualitatively. Open coding is used in the analysis part. Based on the analysis, three assertions about participants’ understandings of autism, technology, and the use of technology for autism were generated and presented in the paper.