Children with Autism and Distance Education

This year, April 2 Autism Awareness Day coincided with a period when children who receive special education had to be at home with their families because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Education Director of Tohum Autism Foundation Nergiz Koçarslan whom we talked to on the occasion of Awareness Day, points out the importance of creating a routine by saying: “Parents should take the role of their child's most important teacher.”

If I kindly ask you to make an appreciation of situation on April 2, World Autism Awareness Day, how would you evaluate the opportunities of individuals (education, social rights, etc.) with autism in Turkey from past to present by comparing with global examples?

The prevalence of autism is booming today. In 1985, one in every 2,500 children was diagnosed with autism, while this number had become 250 in 2001 and in 2013, one in 88 children were diagnosed. One of every 59 children born today is born with autism. Every 20 minutes in the world, a child is born with a diagnosis of autism.

In our country, 42.461 of 434.010 children and young people with autism among the 0-19 age group have been able to reach school and education. When we project this to the population, it is estimated that there are approximately 1,387,580 individuals with autism in our country and there are 5,550,320 family members affected by this situation.

Education is the only known treatment for autism. For this reason, it is of great importance to increase the quality and intensity of the training services provided. As Tohum Autism Foundation, we continue our work with ministries and university collaborations regarding how education in Turkey should be.

In addition to improving the quality of education, another of our most important goals is to improve the services provided to families. It is very important to tell families about autism, to show them how to support their children and to enable them to take an active role in the process. Parents should take the role of their children’s most important teacher. In this regard, all necessary support should be provided to the family.

We define autism not as a disease but as “a different state of being human”. How would you summarize the stage we have reached in the light of scientific studies on this subject? Can we draw a promising picture for parents who are concerned about the future of their children?

It is supported by scientific research that nearly half of individuals with autism can become independent individuals in the society with early intensive special education. The public awareness on the symptoms of autism is important in this regard. Parents will be able to act quickly when they see differences in their children and will be able to associate this with autism. The earlier the intensive education will begin, the more likely that individuals with autism will draw near their peers’ performance.

Online Education Opportunities In Autism

When we consider the importance of uninterrupted and continuous education in autism, what are your recommendations to public authorities as a foundation during corona days?

This epidemic which affected the whole World has also negatively affected the working process of all sectors. The field of education was one of them in this regard. Distance online training started to be carried out. Institutions that provide education to individuals with normal development started their educational processes in line with their own possibilities. The Ministry of National Education is in the core of this process with EBA TV application.

Contents are available for students who continue special education on EBA TV. Since the individuals with special needs have very different needs, the content should be developed by the teachers of the children and then be delivered to the students. This distance education process has brought up another problem we face in special education. Families had to be those who offer this education. Families who are involved in the education process go through this process more successfully than other families with the support of their teachers. However, it can be said that families who are not involved in the educational processes need more support.

As Tohum Autism Foundation, we announce our online education at all resources to ensure that families can easily reach & access with ease: 

1. We have a comprehensive education portal (eğitim portalımız) prepared to provide skills for individuals with autism.
2. We have apps that you can download for free from APP Store and Google Play (ücretsiz olarak indirebileceğiniz uygulamalarımız). Through these practices, skill acquisition can be targeted in children with autism.
3. We organize online seminars with autism experts at 20:00 every weekday. When determining the topics of the seminars, we give importance to the priorities of the families. Seminars are broadcasted free of charge via our Zoom and Facebook accounts. Recordings are added to our YouTube channel the next day. It is possible to follow them from there as well.
4. We have gathered all the resources in Turkey in a single document (Türkiye’deki tüm kaynakları tek bir dokümanda) in order to facilitate and create an opportunity for individuals with autism to continue their education actively during the interruption of education at school.
5. Our Set of Skills for Children with Autism is active on our website (Otizmli Çocuklara Beceri Kazandırma Setimiz). This training kit which consists of 10 different contents from toilet skills to object recognition is also available for free.
6. As you know, we have a school with 150 students. The educators of our school continue their educational activities on a daily basis through our live broadcast programs for our students at home.

The Importance Of Maintaining A Routine At Home

One-to-one education is important in autism. How efficient are the digital possibilities in facilitating the education of individuals with autism who stay at home for various reasons such as COVID-19? To what extent do various practices contribute to the education of individuals with autism?

Technology now requires the development of educational practices. Smartphones and tablets are actively used by most people. We have applications developed considering the features of individuals with autism. We continue to develop these applications by considering today’s needs. Access is easy to Tohum 1, Tohum 2, Concept Teaching, Listen And Understand and Tohum Autism mobile applications.

What do you suggest to parents who try to educate individuals with autism in their homes during corona days?

We know how difficult the process is for families living with children with autism and we follow them closely. The important thing here is to try to minimize uncertainty by setting the child’s routine in a certain order. Routine is of great importance for children with autism. Parents should be in contact with their children’s teachers and receive support in this regard. It is an important issue to take advantage of online education environments and increase the effectiveness of online education…