The Importance of Special Education in Children Discussed

Üsküdar University Vocational School of Health Services Department of Disability Care and Rehabilitation hosted Special Education Teacher Merve Kırçıl as the guest of its online interview. Kırçıl, who made evaluations about the purpose and goals of special education, said; “The basis of special education is to replace problematic behavior with positive behavior rather than extinguishing it. Our desire in special education is to prepare a special program according to the child's disability and educate the child in social and academic life.”

“A Child’s Two Important Nutrients: Love and Trust”

In the interview moderated by Gönül Kil Tetik, Head of the Department of Disability Care and Rehabilitation Program, Merve Kırçıl drew attention to what needs to be considered when communicating with children, saying, “Nevzat Tarhan has a beautiful saying: ‘A child has two important nutrients: love and trust.’ Indeed, when you give children love and trust, you largely get it back. We need to complete the lack of emotion and trust in the child. You need to work with the child through play. You need to work through play, to be concrete. You need to follow their lead with the toys they choose. Special education requires a lot of effort; once you get into it, you realize how short even a month is.”

“We Need to Teach the Child Everything Through the Shadow Teaching Method” 

Kırçıl, emphasizing the importance of shadow teachers in a child's development, noted that there is a very fine line between teaching and caregiving. Kırçıl said; “What we call a shadow teacher is a concept that completely prepares and propels the child into life. You need to teach them how to eat, brush their teeth, and use the toilet. That is, you actually need to teach the part we call personal care. You need to teach them how to communicate with people, how to behave outside according to the situation, how to speak, all social, cognitive, communication, and physical areas – you need to teach them all.”

“The Purpose of Special Education is to Educate the Child in Social and Academic Life”

Kırçıl emphasized that different programs should be prepared for children receiving special education according to their condition; “The foundation of special education is applied behavior analysis. It is to extinguish problematic behavior and replace it with positive behavior. This is what we call applied behavior analysis. Our desire in special education is to prepare a special program according to the child's disability and educate the child in social and academic life. Therefore, after education, we aim to eliminate problematic behavior and replace it with positive behavior. This is the main purpose of special education.”